8 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



In fresh juvenal plumage, in August, the feathers of the crown, 

 mantle, and scapulars are black, broadly edged with "ochraceous 

 tawny"; the tertials, median wing coverts, upper tail coverts, and 

 tail feathers are narrowly edged with paler shades of buff ; the lesser 

 wing coverts are narrowly edged with white; the forehead, lores, 

 neck all around, upper breast, and flanks are suffused with grayish 

 brown, varying from " fawn color " or " wood brown," on the throat, 

 neck, and breast, to "vinaceous buff" on the head and flanks; the 

 rest of the under parts are pure white. The sexes are alike in juvenal 

 and winter plumages. 



The tawny edgings of the upper plumage soon fade and wear away 

 before the postjuvenal molt begins during August. I have seen 

 birds in full juvenal plumage as late as September 15; the molt is 

 usually not completed until late in October, but I have seen it well 

 advanced by the middle of August. This molt includes nearly all 

 of the contour plumage, but not the wings and tail, so that first- 

 winter birds can be distinguished from adults by the juvenal wing 

 coverts and tail. 



The first prenuptial molt occurs mainly in April and May; it is 

 sometimes completed by the last week in May, but more often not 

 until early June; I have seen the full first-winter plumage retained 

 until May 21. This molt involves the entire contour plumage, some 

 wing coverts, and the tail; so that young birds in first nuptial plum- 

 age closely resemble adults and can be distinguished only by the pres- 

 ence of some old juvenal wing coverts. The sexes are quite unlike 

 in this plumage and are probably ready to breed. Certain females, 

 in which the black crown and white cheek patches are obscured with 

 buff and rufous tints, but are otherwise in full plumage, are perhaps 

 young birds. 



At the following molt, the first postnuptial, the adult winter 

 plumage is acquired, characterized by the bluish-gray mantle and 

 the white under parts. This molt is complete ; it begins in July and 

 is sometimes completed in August, but more often it is prolonged 

 into September or later. Adults have a partial molt in the spring, 

 from March to May, involving the contour feathers, the tail, some of 

 the tertials, and some of the wing coverts ; the remiges are not molted, 

 and some of the old scapulars are retained. The adult postnuptial 

 molt, from July to December, is complete. 



Food. — During the month or so that they are on their northern 

 breeding grounds the red phalaropes are shore birds, feeding in the 

 tundra pools or along the shores, but during the rest of the year 

 they are essentially sea birds, feeding on or about the floating masses 

 of kelp or seaweeds, or following the whales or schools of large fish ; 

 hence they are aptly called " sea geese," " whale birds," or " bowhead 

 birds." They occasionally come in to brackish pools near the shore 



