88 



THE OSPREY 



feet of a feeding flock, perhaps, but Cryniophilus is 

 notional and if you get too near, away goes the whole 

 flock as a single bird, with no warning that we can 

 detect. A killed or crippled I'halarope is almost 

 sure to decoy the remainder of the flock until one has 

 them all. Mr. Anthony records the same fact in his 

 notes. 



Whether on the wing or running along stretches of 

 white sand beach or whether rapidly paddling over 

 the water, the f'halarope is always neat and careful 

 of its snowy feathers. They always give me the idea 

 of dainty little ladies, and why not? We find that it 

 is Mrs. Phalarope who is the more gaily dressed when 

 nesting time returns. 



THE NORTHERN PHALAROPE. 



( Phalaropiis IoIkUhs. ) 



I first saw this bird on the San Lorenzo River at 

 Santa Cruz, .Vugust 24, 1888. Several pairs and small 

 flocks were seen that year. July 22 of the next year 

 I collected a male and female iu full summer dress. 

 They are the only ones seen that year, and were feed- 

 ing on a small lagoon near Twin Lakes, about three 

 miles from Santa Cruz. They measured: male 7-'4X 

 13^, and female 7^x13^^. August, '91 no Phala- 

 ropes of either kind were seen. 



At San Diego the Phalaropes arrive late in July, 

 the Northern usually a little in advance of the Red, 

 which may be due to the fact that the latter species 

 migrates well off shore and is easily missed at first. 

 The Northern is seldom seen about San Diego in win- 

 ter. Specimens in full plumage were seen going 

 north 150 miles off Lower California in May. J^irds 

 in full red plumage are common off Coronados Islands 

 in May. A single Northern Phalarope was found 

 near timber line in Colorado. Though in full spring 

 plumage it probably was not nesting. From what I 

 saw of this bird at Santa Cruz I should say that it is 

 rather irregular in its movements and is rarely abund- 

 ant It breeds in the far north, St. Paul's Island, in 



the Pribilof group, Unalaska, Alaska and in the Yu- 

 kon and Anderson River regions. 



THE RED PHALAROPE. 

 ( Crvinophiliif fii!i( arius.) 



This is the more abundant of the two, outnumber- 

 ing the other three to one. It was first seen October 

 19, 1888, when small companies appeared on the 

 beaches at Seabright. I found it wilder and more 

 likely to appear in flocks than the Northern. A fe- 

 male collected October 22 measures: length ^y%, ex- 

 tent 15)^, wing 5.21, tail 2.80, tarsus .79, culmen .85. 

 Of thirteen specimens collected in '88 four are males 

 and nine females. I believe that this species may be 

 characterized as an abundant migrant at Santa Cruz. 



If you will notice the position of Santa Cruz in a 

 deep bay, I believe the idea will be suggested to your 

 mind that this is the cause of the late dates for Phal- 

 aropes here, while at points further south the arrivals 

 are earlier owing to the straight coast line. In other 

 words, it takes the birds some time to find their way 

 into the deep bay, and probably there are but a small 

 per cent, of the individuals which pass. 



I am indebted to Mr. A. W. Anthony of San Diego 

 for notes here used in regard to Southern and Lower 

 California ; he also kindly furnishes the following : 



" September 6, I was between Cerros and San 

 Benito Islands ; the night was calm and there was 

 plenty of fog. On my first watch until 12 midnight, 

 I constantly heard the notes of the Red species. It 

 seemed as if we were passing through one immense 

 flock, though, of course, it was only hundreds of 

 small companies. When I again came on deck at 4 

 a. m. they were still flying as before, but at daybreak 

 the notes grew less noticeable and then ceased al- 

 together. As it grew lighter hundreds of little flocks 

 of from five or six to twenty were seen in every 

 direction busily gleaning their breakfast from the 

 calm surface of the ocean. During the morning 

 little if any movement was noticed, the migration 

 being at a standstill." 



WINTER OBSERVATIONS AT LAKE FOREST. 



JOHN F. FERRY. 



LAKE FOREST is a small suburb twenty-eight months bird-life is unusually plentiful. I think the 



miles north of Chicago. It is situated on a cause is obvious : the birds are first attracted by these 



bluff 75 to 100 feet high overlooking Lake strips and patches of woodland, made so conspicuous 



Michigan. This bluff is cut by many deep, pictur- by the lake on the one hand and the surrounding 



esque ravines. The edge is fringed almost continu- prairies on the other ; and then to the deep ravines 



ously with heavy woods which usually become thinner f^^ shelter. Here they are not only protected from 

 as they go inland, often interspersed with strips of 

 prairie, which in some places are quite large, so that 



the woods appear only as small clumps of trees here 

 and there. 



Directly west of Lake Forest the prairies predom- 

 inate over the woodlands, and the heavy woods are 

 confined to a strip of perhaps a mile in width extend- 



the cold winter winds, but they find additional warmth 

 in the thick hazel underbrush and stunted growths of 

 spruce, hemlock and ironwood; the seeds of these 

 together with the many other seed-bearing plants 

 furnish them with an abundance of food. 



Another attractive feature to the birds is the abund- 



ing along the top of the bluff. Inuring the migrations ance of shrubbery, evergreens and hedges which 

 birds are extremely abundant here, and in the winter adorn the many beautiful private grounds. Here all 



