16 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



that of the red phalarope; it might be called sub-Arctic rather than 

 Arctic. There seems to be only one homogeneous species around 

 the world. It resembles the red phalarope in its habits, but is more 

 often seen on inland waters than is that species. 



Spring. — Countless thousands of these dainty little birds migrate 

 northward off both coasts of North America in May, but very few 

 ever come ashore except in bad weather. While cruising off the 

 coast, 10 or more miles from land, one is likely to see them flying 

 about in flocks, after the manner of small sandpipers, flitting about 

 and alighting on drifting masses of seaweed or other flotsam, or 

 swimming lightly on the smooth surface of the sea, darting hither 

 and thither in a most erratic way, each seemingly intent on gather- 

 ing its tin}'' bits of food. They are gentle, graceful, and charming 

 little birds and well worth watching. 



There is also a heavy northward migration through the interior 

 during May. In Saskatchewan I saw a large flock at Quill Lake on 

 May 28, 1917; and in the Crane Lake region we recorded it as an 

 abundant migrant ; it was seen migrating, on May 29, 1905, in large 

 flocks with sanderlings ; one was seen at Hay Lake on June 15 ; and 

 two were taken on June 14, 1906, at Big Stick Lake, which were in 

 breeding condition. C. G. Harrold writes to me that it is a common 

 and rather late migrant in Manitoba. William Rowan's notes con- 

 tain several references to the enormous flocks which pass Beaverhill 

 Lake, Alberta, in May, mostly during the last two weeks. 



Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) has given us the following attractive 

 account of the arrival of these birds in northern Alaska : 



As summer approaches on the Arctic shores and coast of Bering Sea the 

 numberless pools, until now .hidden under a snowy covering, become bordered 

 or covered with water ; the mud about their edges begins to soften, and through 

 the water the melting ice in the bottom looks pale green. The ducks and geese 

 fill the air with their loud resounding cries, and the rapid wing strokes of 

 arriving and departing flocks add a heavy bass to the chorus which greets the 

 opening of another glad season in the wilds of the cheerless north. Amid 

 this loud-tongued multitude suddenly appears the graceful, fairylike form of 

 the northern phalarope. Perhaps, as the hunter sits by the border of a secluded 

 pool still half covered with snow and ice, a pair of slight wings flit before him, 

 and there, riding on the water, scarcely making a ripple, floats this charming 

 and elegant bird. It glides hither and thither on the water, apparently drifted 

 by its fancy, and skims about the pool like an autumn leaf wafted before the 

 playful zephyrs on some embosomed lakelet in the forest. The delicate tints 

 and slender fragile form, combining grace of color and outline with a pecu- 

 liarly dainty elegance of motion, render this the most lovely and attractive 

 among its handsome congeners. 



The first arrivals reach St. Michaels in full plumage from May 14 to 15, and 

 their number is steadily augmented, until, the last few days of May and 1st of 

 June, they are on hand in full force and ready to set about the season's cares. 

 Every pool now has from one to several pairs of these birds gliding in restless 

 zigzag motion around its border, the slender necks at times darting quickly 



