4 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



lying quietly and mutely in the middle of the pool; suddenly she began with 

 increasing rapidity to whirl around on the surface of the water, always in 

 the same little circle, the diameter of which was some 10 centimeters. As the 

 male seemed to pay no attention to her alluring movements, she flew rapidly 

 up to him — producing as she left the water a peculiar whirling sound with 

 her wings and uttering short angry cries — pushed him with her bill, and then 

 she returned to the water and took up her swimming dance. Now the male 

 came out to her, and the two birds whirled around for some moments equally 

 eager and with increasing rapidity. Uttering a short call, the female again 

 flew to a tuft surrounded by water and waited some seconds in vain for the 

 male ; again she flew to the water to induce him with eager pushes and thumps 

 to accompany her. They again whirled violently around, whereafter she, 

 uttering a strong, alluring sound, flew back to the tuft, this time accompanied 

 by the male — and the pairing immediately took place. In the matrimony of 

 the grey phalarope the female only decides. She exceeds the male in size 

 and brilliancy of plumage and has the decisive power in all family affairs. 

 If she wants to shift her place of residence she flies up swift as an arrow 

 with a commanding cry — which may be expressed as " pittss " — and if the 

 male does not follow her at once she will immediately return and give him a 

 severe punishment, which never fails to have the desired effect. It is a well- 

 known fact that she completely ignores her eggs and young ones. 



Nesting. — The same author describes the nesting habits of this 

 species, in northeast Greenland, as follows : 



It is peculiar, that the male has well-marked breeding spots before the 

 breeding begins and certainly before the female has laid her first egg ; but this 

 fact has been proved by several solid examinations. June 26, 1907, I observed 

 on the beach of the Bjergandeso in the Stormkap district, that the nest build- 

 ing was executed by the male. He was busy in building the nest on a low 

 bank covered with short grass, while she paid no attention to his labor, but 

 swam around the beach searching food. The male shaped a nest hollow by 

 turning round his body against the ground on the place selected, having first 

 by aid of the feet scraped away and trampled down the longest and most 

 troublesome straws. He diligently used feet and bill at the same time to 

 arrange the shorter fine straws, which are carefully bent into the nest hollow 

 and form the lining of this. The nest was much smaller than that of Tringa 

 alpina and contained one egg the next day. Along the beaches of a smaller 

 lake not far from the ship's harbor I saw, June 30, three solitary swimming 

 males, at least one of which showed signs of having a nest. I soon found this 

 close to the place of residence of the male in question. The nest contained four 

 fresh eggs and was built in exactly the same way as the before-mentioned nest. 

 The male proved so far from being shy, that he could be driven to his nest and 

 merely be caught by hand ; having laid himself upon the nest he was still more 

 fearless. 



A breeding phalarope will lie motionless with his head pressed deep down 

 against his back. He is almost fully covered by straws, which surround the 

 nest, as he with the bill bends these over himself, besides he is so similar to the 

 surroundings that no human eye is able to distinguish him from these, if the 

 spot is not known beforehand. 



July 9, 1907, I again found a phalarope' s nest by the Bjergandeso; it con- 

 tained four fresh eggs and was built a little differently from the two before- 

 mentioned nests. These were found close to a lake on low banks covered with 

 short grass, but this one was built on a tuft covered with long, withered grass, 



