270 RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. 



larope of British writers. This small species, 

 typical of the second form, possesses most of the 

 habits of the last, swimming- with facility ; it is 

 also, according* to Audubon, gregarious in winter, 

 and is found in large flocks, far from land, on the 

 banks of sea-weed. It breeds near to the water's 

 edge, but in wet places or marshes, on some tuft 

 or hillock of herbage. It has been occasionally 

 procured in the English counties as far north as 

 Northumberland, but not nearly so frequently as 

 the last ; and although it is said to be more com- 

 monly found in Scotland, we have never met with 

 a freshly killed specimen. It is known, however, 

 to be tolerably frequent, and to breed on several 

 of the Orkney Islands, particularly Sanda and 

 North Ronaldshaw. 



We borrow* Mr. Selby's description of the dif- 

 ferent states, and add that of a specimen procured 

 for us by one of the whale ships, and taken, so far 

 as we could learn, on the island of Disco. " Crown 

 of the head, nape, and hinder part of the neck, 

 sides of the breast, and streak behind the eyes, 

 ash-grey ; sides of the neck marked with an irre- 

 gular patch of orange-brown ; throat, middle of 

 the breast, and all the under parts, white, except 

 the flanks, which are dashed with ash-grey ; back 

 and scapulars black, the feathers deeply margined 

 with ash-grey and reddish-brown ; wing-coverts 

 blackish-grey, the greater ones terminated with 

 white, and forming a bar across the wings ; the 

 two middle feathers black, the rest deep ash-grey, 



