THE RED-NFXKED PHALAROPE 253 



and is said to be not unfrequent in Holland and France. A writer 

 of the latter country says that ' by aid of its webbed feet it is enabled 

 to traverse, without sinking, the softest and wettest mud ; this it 

 searches with its curved bill, and when it has discovered any prey, 

 a worm for instance, it throws it adroitly into the air, and catches 

 it with its beak '. 



THE GREY PHALAROPE 



PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS 



Wiiiiey — plumage in front and bencatli white ; back of the head, ear-coverts, 

 and a streak down the nape, dusky ; back pearl-grey, the feathers dusky 

 in the centre, a white transverse bar on the wings ; tail-feathers brown, 

 edged with ash ; bill brown, yellowish red at the base ; irides reddish 

 yellow ; feet greenish ash. Summey — head dusky ; face and nape 

 white ; feathers of the back dusky, bordered with orange-brown ; front 

 and lower plumage brick-red. Length eight inches and a half. Eggs 

 greenish stone colour, blotched and spotted with dusky. 



The Grey Phalarope, without being one of our rarest birds, is not 

 of irregular occurrence. Its proper home is in the Arctic regions, 

 from whence it migrates southward in winter. It is a bird of varied 

 accomplishments, flying rapidly like the Snipes, running after the 

 fashion of the Sandpipers, and swimming with the facility of the 

 Ducks. In all these respects it does not belie its appearance, its 

 structure being such that a naturalist would expect, a priori, that 

 these were its habits. During the breeding season, the Phalarope 

 cpiits the sea, its usual haunt, and repairs to the seashore, where it 

 builds a neat nest, in a hollow of the ground, with grass and other 

 weeds, and lays four eggs. The usual time of its appearance in 

 Great Britain is autumn ; sometimes it comes then in numbers ; 

 but specimens have been obtained in winter. On all these occasions 

 it has shown itself singularly fearless of man. 



THE RED-NECKED PHALAROPE 



PHALAROPUS HYPERBOREUS 



Head deep ash-grey ; throat white ; neck bright rust-red ; under plumage 

 white, blotched on the flanks with ash ; back black, the feathers bordered 

 with rust-red ; a white bar across the wing ; two middle tail-feathers 

 black, the rest ash, edged with white ; bill black ; irides brown ; feet 

 greenish ash. Length seven inches. Eggs dark olive, closely spotted 

 with black. 



The Red-necked Phalarope, or Lobefoot, is, like the preceding 

 species, an inhabitant of the Arctic regions, but extends its circle 



