14 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. jx. 



the confidence and simplicity of the Phalarope, and I 

 did not rely upon them in vain. In about tA\enty 

 minutes I caught sight of the bird creeping round the 

 tent, and a few minutes later he settled do\\n upon 

 the eggs. In this, my first ghmpse of a Grey Phalarope 

 at close quarters, two points struck me forcibly. One 

 was the apparent extraordinary length of the bird. 

 The single pair of legs in the middle seemed quite in- 

 sufficient to support so long a body, and with Ms quaint 

 perky gait, it seemed as if the bird swayed to and fro 

 upon cee -springs as he walked. The other was the 

 pecuhar harmony of the colour of the mantle A\ith the 

 grass around, bleached or blackened by snow and thaw. 

 The long, blade-like form of the secondary feathers, and 

 the buff longitudinal shoulder bands seemed to emphasize 

 the scheme until the bird was almost indistinguish- 

 able from his surroundings. Tliis curious, streaky, wiry 

 appearance is perhaps indicated in Fig. 3, though, 

 of course, the help of the beautiful colour-values is lost 

 in a reproduction in monochrome. '" Oh, for an auto- 

 chrome plate ! " said I, as the bird cuddled do^n, and 

 sat there motionless hour after hour. 



It was a matter of monotonous ease to photograph the 

 Phalarope on his eggs. Two or three times I was obliged 

 to show myself in order to re-arrange the tent. Each 

 time he ran off the nest and stood waiting a few yards 

 aM ay until I was hidden again, and then he came back 

 at once. All day he incubated the eggs by himself, 

 and the female never came near the place. Towards 

 evening I wanted to pack up the camera, and by way 

 of driving the bird from the nest 1 flipped a bit of moss 

 at him from the tent. This had the desired effect, but 

 as he strolled away doubtfully, a second piece fell 

 right into the nest. Taking no notice of the strange 

 upheavals in the tent, the plucky Uttle fellow 

 ran back at once, and I took a final photograph 

 of him as he solicitously picked the moss off his 

 precious eggs. 



