NOETHEEN PHALAEOPE 327 



brown -with feathers more or less white tipped and central portion of the 

 area more or less suffused with rusty brown; rest of under surface white; 

 feathers of sides and flanks with dusky shaft streaks; feet dusky with pale 

 webs. Total length 6.40-7.75 inches (163-197 mm.) (ten specimens from Cali- 

 fornia); folded wing 4.04-4.35 (102.8-110.5); bill along eulmen 0.79-0.93 (20.0- 

 23.7); tarsus 0.78-0.84 (19.7-21.5) (ten specimens from California and Alaska). 

 Adult female in spring and early summer: Like adult male in corresponding 

 plumage but with bright rusty brown on sides of throat deeper in tone and 

 more extensive, reaching farther around toward middle of chest, and running 

 down outer edge of scapulars as a duller streak; top of head, hind neck and 

 back, nearly uniform slate, with a longitudinal buffy brown stripe on scapulars 

 of each side; rump and upper tail coverts nearly black; general color of wing 

 blackish. Total length 7.37-8.00 inches (187-203 mm.) (ten specimens from 

 California); folded wing 3.91-4.29 (99.2-109.0); bill along eulmen 0.84-0.96 

 (21.4-24.4); tarsus 0.76-0.86 (19.2-21.8) (ten specimens from California and 

 Alaska). Adults, both sexes, in fall and xcinter: Head and whole lower surface 

 white, except for spot of dusky just below and behind eye; back and scapulars 

 pearl gray with broad white feather margins; wings as in summer, save as 

 modified by wear. Most late summer birds observed in California are in 

 mixed, transitional plumage, from summer to winter. Juvenile plumage: 

 Similar to summer plumage of adult male but with brown of neck and throat 

 wanting, grayish brown of chest and sides replaced by pale drab, and edgings 

 of scapulars and tertials bright rusty browm. Natal plumage: Ground color 

 of upper surface, sides and chin, tawny, paler on lower back and chin; white 

 spot over eye; stripe from side of bill to eye, dusky; top of head striped with 

 black and tawny; ear region, middle of hind neck and side of neck, black; a 

 median stripe, and two lateral ones on each side of back, black; throat suffused 

 with tawny, fading to dull white on under surface, which is in turn replaced by 

 drab in the region of the vent; feet (dried) yellowish. 



Marks for field identification — Small size, needle-like bill (fig. 58), 

 slender head and neck, white under surface, and, in summer plumage, absence 

 of conspicuous streaking or barring on back of head and back, and reddish 

 sides of neck. Frequents open water, either salt or fresh; swims gracefully 

 and with quick movements. Among Phalaropes, distinguished by smaller size, 

 short, slender bill, dark rump, and in summer plumage by blackish head and 

 back. The phalarope most commonly met with on inland waters. 



Voice — A plaintive "pe-et, pe-et, " or "pleep, pleep," or "wit, wit." As 

 the birds take wing from the water, these notes may be uttered at intervals 

 of one or two seconds. 



Nest — On banks of sloughs or near shores of small lakes; a depression 

 molded in grassy sod and situated on top of a small hummock; sometimes a 

 small collection of marsh grass, but arranged with little care. 



Eggs — 3 to 4, pear-shaped, measuring in inches, 1.10 to 1.30 by 0.75 to 0.85 

 (in millimeters, 28.0 to 33.0 by 19.1 to 21.6), and averaging 1.20 by 0.82 (30.5 

 by 20.8) ; ground color greenish-olive, light or dark buffy, or even grayish olive, 

 with either large or small markings of dark brown, sometimes aggregated 

 around larger end to form a dark zone, or else rather evenly distributed over 

 the whole egg (authors). Slightly smaller and less coarsely or deeply marked 

 than those of the Eed Phalarojie. 



General distribution — Both hemispheres. In North America breeds from 

 northern Alaska, Melville Island and central Greenland, south to the Aleutian 

 Islands, valley of the upper Yukon, northern Mackenzie, central Keewatin, 



