CHARADRIIDiB. 



565 



THE GREY PHALAROPE. 



Phalaropus fulicarius (Linnaeus). 



The Grey Phalarope owes its trivial name to the autumnal plumage 

 in which it usually visits us, for during the breeding-season the pre- 

 vailing colour is deep chestnut. At irregular intervals birds — chiefly 

 young — make their appearance upon the shores of England, the 

 favoured counties being those to the south-east, south and south- 

 west ; and Mr. J. H. Gurney estimates that during the great immigra- 

 tion between August 20th and October 8th 1866, upwards of 500 

 were killed, of which about 250 fell in Sussex, few birds touching the 

 coast to the north of Ramsgate. A visitation of some importance in 

 1869 and a smaller invasion in the autumn of 18S6 were almost con- 

 fined to the south, though another in 1S91 was more widely spread. 

 Examples are occasionally obtained on the spring-passage. On the 

 east of England this Phalarope seldom alights above Norfolk, but in 

 Scotland it has occurred, sparingly, from Berwickshire to the Orkneys; 

 it was not, however, taken in the Outer Hebrides until the autumn 

 of 1890, though several times recorded from the Inner islands. In 

 Ireland it is rare, but a few examples were obtained in the south in 

 the autumn of 1886, and a good many in 1891. Individuals have 

 often been killed far inland by the side of lakes or ponds, and pools of 

 fresh or brackish water sheltered from the sea are favourite haunts. 



