2 SCOLOPACID^. 



Farlane. It was met with in Franklin Bay on the 4th and 5th of July, and five 

 individuals and two nests were obtained. The nests are said to have been 

 precisely similar to those of L. lobatus — mere depressions in the ground, with 

 hardly any lining except a few dry leaves. One nest — found on the 4th — contained 

 three eggs, which were perfectly fresh. The other — taken on the 5th — contained 

 four eggs, in which were but slightly developed embryos." 



Dr. E, Coues, in describing the eggs above referred to, says * : — " The eggs 

 are so similar [to those of P. hyperhoreus] that they cannot be distinguished with 



certainty in any given instance Their average capacity is greater than 



those of L. hyperhoreus. The longest specimen measures 1*30 by 0-90 ; the 

 shortest, 1-15 by 0-90; another, 1-25 by 0-85." 



Referring to this species, Mr. E. W. Nelson writes f: — "This handsome 

 Phalarope arrives at the Yukon mouth and adjacent parts of the Bering Sea coast 

 during the last few days of May or first of June, according to the season. It is a 

 common summer resident at Point Barrow, where it arrives early in June and 

 remains till the sea closes late in October ; it is an abundant summer visitant 

 on the Near Islands, and breeds abundantly on some of the Commander group. 

 It is much more gregarious than its relative, and for a week or two after its first 

 arrival fifty or more flock together. These flocks were very numerous the 1st of 

 June, 1879, at the Yukon mouth, where I had an excellent opportunity to observe 

 them. In the morning the birds which were paired could be found scattered here 

 and there, by twos, over the slightly-floody grassy flats. At times these pairs would 

 rise and fly a short distance, the female, easily known by her bright colors and 

 larger size, in advance, and uttering now and then a low and musical ' clink, 

 clink,' sounding very much like the noise made by lightly tapping together two 

 small bars of steel. When disturbed these notes were repeated oftener and 

 became harder and louder. 



"A little later in the day, as their hunger became satisfied, they began to 

 unite into parties until fifteen or twenty birds would rise and pxirsue an erratic 

 course over the flat. As they passed swiftly along stray individuals and pairs 

 might be seen to spring up and join the flock. Other flocks would rise and the 

 smaller coalesce with the larger until from two hundred to three or even four 

 hundred birds were gathered in a single flock. As the size of the flock increased, 

 its movements became more and more irregular. At one moment they would 

 glide straight along the ground, then change to a wayward flight, back and forth, 



* ' Birds of the North-West,' p. 472. 



t 'Eeport upon Natural History Collections made in Alaska between the years 1877 and 1881,' 

 pp. 97, 98. 



