136 NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



known to winter and never to summer; wintering in Central and South 

 America. It is exceedingly abundant in certain places during the migra- 

 tions. In Labrador it is said to fairly swarm in August. Of this bird's 

 nest and eggs Dr. Coues says (Birds of the Northwest, page 512): "This 

 species breeds in great numbers in the Anderson River region, usually 

 making up its, nest complement of four eggs by the third week in June. 

 The nest is generally in an open plain, and is a mere depression of the 

 ground, lined with a few dried leaves or grasses. The eggs vary to the great 

 extent usually witnessed among waders. The ground is olive-drab, tend- 

 ing either to green, gray or brown in different instances. The markings, 

 always large, numerous and bold, are of different depths of dark choco- 

 late, bistre and sepia-brown, with the ordinary stone-gray shell spots. 

 They always tend to aggregate at the larger end, or, at least, are more 

 numerous on the major half of the eggs ; though in a few instances the 

 distribution is nearly uniform. Occasionally the butt end of the egg is 

 almost completely occupied by confluence of very dark markings. Eggs 

 vary from 1.90 by 1.40 to 2. 12 by 1.33, averaging about 2.00 by 1.45." 



563. Red Phalarope — phalaropus fulicarius. Greenish or yellowish 

 ash, blotched and spotted with brown of various shades. The eggs of 

 this species cannot, with certainty, be distinguished from those of the 

 following species; in fact, the range of coloration is so varied that they 

 are difficult to describe satisfactorily in a brief manner. They are three 

 or four in number, averaging larger than those of the Northern Phalarope; 

 from 1. 15 to 1.30 long by .90 to .95 broad. The Coot-footed Tringa, 

 Red or Gray Phalarope, as it is differently called, is distributed in summer 

 throughout the Arctic regions, wandering far south in winter. The 

 Phalaropes are curious birds, partaking of the nature of a wader and a 

 swimmer. The three species of this family resemble Sandpipers, but 

 are at once distinguished by the lobate feet; the toes have plain or 

 scalloped membranes, like those of the coots and grebes. The body is 

 depressed and the under-plumage thick like that of a duck; on this the 

 birds swim with perfect ease. They ride the waves lightly along the 

 coast, and when on the margin of a stream or pool often surprise their 

 associates, the Sandpipers, by swimming out into deep water. The Red 

 Phalarope appears to be more exclusively maritime than other species of 

 the family. The nest is a slight hollow in the ground, sparsely lined with 

 moss and grass. Mr. Capin, in " Oology of New "England," quotes a 

 letter from Mr. Boardman in which he says: "Twice I have found the 

 Red Phalarope breeding in Maine." The eggs, Mr. Capin says, are laid 

 the first part of June. 



