218 THE BIRDS OF SUSSEX. 



two hundred and fifty were obtained in Sussex. At that 

 period they were many times observed on small pools ten or 

 twelve miles from the sea^ and I was particularly interested 

 in watching one of them swimming about in an extremely 

 dirty and offensive pool, at the back of the Inn at Albourne. 

 It swam remarkably high in the water, constantly nodding 

 its head and dipping its bill, while snapping at the numerous 

 flies with which the place was infested. It allowed me to 

 approacli it within a very few yards, occasionally flying 

 close to me in perfect silence, both of wing and voice, 

 with a most graceful and bat-like flight. 



There was another extraordinary immigration in the 

 autumn of 1869, when many were obtained all along the coast 

 of Sussex, and as far west as Dorsetshire. They were so tame 

 that they might be knocked on the head with an oar. In 

 the first immigration many were taken showing more or less 

 trace of the red or nuptial plumage. As a rule, when found 

 inland, they are met with singly, or at most in pairs. 



This Phalarope seems quite at home, even in a rough sea, 

 where it feeds on minute animalcules, in search of which it 

 is incessantly nodding its head, and thrusting its bill under 

 water. It goes far north to breed, and the eggs have been 

 found in Northern Siberia and Alaska; they are laid in a 

 mere depression in the turf. The female has the brightest 

 colour, and is somewhat larger than the male. 



RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. 



Phalaropus hyperboreus. 



This species is very similar in its habits to the last mentioned, 

 and though much rarer, has appeared a few times in the 

 county. It formerly bred in Orkney. 



About the second week in September 1845, a male Red- 



