AMONG THE WaATER-FowL 
dressing fish. Around them, feasting on the refuse, 
were literally thousands of Jaegers, or ‘‘ Sea~-Hens,”’ 
as he called them. They kept coming trom all 
directions throughout the day,—of ally sorts and 
sizes. Whata sieht it must have been! The few 
birds flying towards the feet would be suggestion 
enough. now as to where to go. But it was too late 
for after-thoughts. Next day, with the first snow 
in the air, and a furious, biting north wind, I said 
farewell to the haunts of the Jaegers. 
There is another class of birds that, during their 
stay with us, at any rate, deserve to be included 
among the Ocean Wanderers ,—the little Phalaropes. 
The are classed among ane wading-birds, and 
resemble closely small Sandpipers; but in their 
habits they are quite unique. In their marital ways 
they are ‘said to reverse the ordinary course of 
Nature, the females doing the courting, and the 
males attending to the iencebalel duties, such as 
incubation. One species, the Wilson’s, of which I 
shall tell in another chapter, breeds on the western 
prairies. ‘Two others, the Northern and the Red 
Phalaropes, breed in the far north, and occur along 
the Atlantic coast in spring and fall as migrants. 
Away out at sea, often far out of sight of ace we 
find them at Hhtese seasons in flocks flying about 
with twittering notes, just like flocks of Sandpipers, 
but alighting on the water like genuine water-fowl. 
They chen better their “ wadership ” when they 
meet with areas of drift-weed, and, settling down 
upon it in large numbers, run nimbly about, seeking 
their food, of small marine creatures. 
Off Cape Cod I have been accustomed to see 
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