THE PLOVER TRIBE 



2261 



GRAY PHAI.AROPE. 



wings the first quill exceeds all the others in length, and the short tail is of 



a somewhat rounded form. The 



plumage, like that of the avo- 



cets, is remarkable for its softness. 



During the breeding season these 



birds are confined to the northern 



regions of Europe, Asia, and America, 



two being inhabitants of the circuin- 



polar regions, while the third pertains 



to the Western Hemisphere. They 



are all more aquatic in their habits 



than any other members of the 



family, and chiefly frequent deeply 



indented coasts, although also found 



on the shores of inland lakes. In 



general appearance they approach 



the sandpipers, but they have shorter 



legs; the females are more brightly 



colored than the males. 



The gray phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) , which is but an irregular visitor 

 to the British Islands, attains a length of eight inches, and is remarkable for the 

 difference in the color of the winter and summer plumage of the under parts. The 

 species may be recognized at all seasons by the comparative shortness and width of 

 the beak, and by the central tail feathers exceeding the outermost in width by half 

 an inch. In the breeding plumage the whole of the under parts are of a rich chest- 

 nut, and the back and rump black, but in winter most of the upper parts, as well as 

 a patch before the point of the wings, are pearly gray, while the under parts are 

 pure white. Breeding in the circumpolar regions locally, but nowhere in Con- 

 tinental Europe, this species occasionally visits North Africa in winter, and has 

 been recorded from New Zealand and Chili. The slightly smaller red-necked phala- 

 rope (/*. hyperboreus) , which has likewise a circumpolar distribution, although 

 breeding locally in the Shetlands, Orkneys, and Outer Hebrides, may be recognized 

 by the tapering and pointed beak, which (like that of the preceding) does not 

 exceed an inch in length, and likewise by the smaller difference between the 

 lengths of the central and outer tail feathers. The chief breeding haunts are 

 beyond the limits of forest; but in winter this species spreads over Europe, 

 Northern India, the Malayan region, China, New Guinea, Mexico, and Central 

 America. Finally, Wilson's phalarope (/*. wilsoni), which breeds on the great 

 lakes of North America, and migrates in winter as far south as Patagonia, differs 

 from both the others in the greater length of its slender, tapering bill, which 

 exceeds an inch. 



The term sandpiper being a general one, applied collectively to many members 

 of the family, it is necessary to prefix the term hard-billed to those of which we 

 have now to treat. These birds are specially characterized by the nearly straight 

 beak, and by the feathers of the forehead extending in advance of the angle of the 



