RED PHALAROPE 13 



in my employ could not resist the temptation whenever presented, to grab 

 a bow and arrow from the youngsters, and stalk this little bird. The chase is 

 not one sided, however, as the phalurope is as quick as a flash, and like cupid's 

 arrows, many shots fail to reach their mark. 



Fall. — The red phalaropes are the last of the waders to leave their 

 Arctic breeding grounds, lingering until the lakes and shores are 

 closed with ice, often well into October. These loiterers are all young- 

 birds; the adults leave early and are sometimes seen off the coasts 

 of the United States in July. F. S. Hersey and I collected one at 

 Chatham, Mass., on July 4, 1921 ; this may have been a loiterer from 

 the spring flight, but probably it was an early fall migrant. 



The fall migration is usually well out at sea, often hundreds of 

 miles from land. Kumlien (1879) WTites: 



These birds were met with at great distances from land. The first seen on 

 our outward passage was on August 4, 1877, in latitude 41° N., longitude 68° 

 W. ; here large flocks were met with. As we proceeded northward, their num- 

 bers increased till we reached Grinnell Bay. Off the Amitook Islands, on the 

 Labrador coast, 200 miles from the nearest land, I saw very large flocks during 

 a strong gale. 



William Palmer (1890) met with it in great abundance between 

 Cape Sable and Cape Cod on August 30. 



Off the coast of California the flight begins in July or early 

 August and continues through the fall; a few birds linger through 

 the winter from Monterey southward. Throughout the great interior 

 of North America migration records are scattering, hardly more 

 than casuals. It is interesting, however, to note that Audubon (1840) 

 saw his first birds of this species on the Ohio River near Louisville, 

 Kentucky, where he killed IT at one shot. I have an adult male in 

 my collection which was shot on the Taunton River, near my home, 

 on August 12, 1913. 



Winter. — Our knowledge of the winter home of our American 

 birds of this species is rather meager. They have been traced as 

 far south as the Falkland Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and Juan 

 Fernandez in the Pacific. Probably they are scattered over the 

 warmer portions of both oceans, wherever they can find an abundant 

 food supply. 



A number of phalaropes, almost certainly of this species, were 

 observed by Mr. Nichols in the Atlantic, off Cape Lookout, March 

 22, 192G. "They may winter here or, what is equally likely, arrive 

 in spring to find the same feed which attracts the mackerel to the 

 capes of the Carolinas in March or April." 



Aretas A. Saunders writes to me of a similar observation made 

 by him off the coast of South Carolina on March 5, 1908 : 



That day red phalaropes were abundant on the water, though we were out 

 of sight of land. The sea was calm with a glossy surface, but a slight swell 



