PHALAROPES 85 



scalloped ; wing 1 with white bar in all plumag.es. Male in breeding plu- 

 mage : upper parts dark plumbeous, striped on back with 

 buif and black ; sides of neck rufous ; chest gray ; upper 

 throat and belly white. Female in breeding plumage : brighter 

 colored, rufous extending across throat as well as on sides of 

 neck. Fall and winter plumage: face, line over eye, and 

 under parts white ; line under eye, and back of head, dusky ; 

 upper parts mainly gray. Young : like winter adults, but 



upper parts darker, striped with buff and black. Length : 7-8, wing 4.00- 



4.45, bill .80-.90. 



Distribution. Northern part of northern hemisphere ; in America, 



breeding from Alaska to Labrador and Greenland ; south in winter to 



Guatemala. 



Nest. A slight depression in the ground near water ; lined with 



leaves and grass. Eggs : 4, buffy or olive, irregularly spotted with dark 



browns. 



GENUS STEGANOPUS. 



224. Steganopus tricolor Vieill. WILSON PHALAROPE. 



Bill slender, longer than head ; toes with straight-edged marginal mem- 

 branes ; wing without white bar ; female larger and handsomer than male. 

 Male in breeding plumage : crown and upper parts dusky, touched with 

 brown ; sides of neck with a chestnut stripe ; throat and chest buffy ; 

 stripe over eye, chin, and belly white. Female in breeding plumage : crown 

 and back bluish gray ; black stripe along sides of head and neck shading 

 into rich chestnut along lower neck and shoulders ; chest and lower part of 

 throat delicate cinnamon buff ; upper part of throat, belly, and line over 

 eye white. Adults in winter plumage : upper parts plain gray, chest and 

 sides of breast grayish ; rest of under parts white. Young : upper parts 

 dusky, streaked with light cinnamon ; under parts white, with tinge of 

 cinnamon across breast. Female : length 9.40-10.00, wing 5.20-5.30, bill 

 1.30-1.35, tarsus 1.30-1.35. Male : length 8.25-9.00, wing 4.75-4.80, bill 

 1.25, tarsus 1.20-1.25. 



Distribution. From British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Quebec ; 

 south in winter to Brazil and Patagonia ; breeding from Illinois, Colorado, 

 and Kansas northward, mainly in the interior. 



Nest . On ground, in slight excavation ; lined with grass. Eggs : 3 or 

 4, creamy, buff or drab, spotted with dark brown. 



There is not among all our waders a more dainty, exquisitely 

 colored bird than the Wilson phalarope, with its warm, richly blended 

 tints, trim form, and soft plumage. You find it in small flocks, 

 swimming on the ponds like tiny ducks, or sandpiper-like picking 

 about on the muddy shores. Should you enter its marshy breeding 

 grounds it will fly anxiously about your head with a low ' croaking ' 

 note, threatening and coaxing to get you away from its nest and 

 young. 



Like the other plialaropes the female is larger and brighter colored 

 than the male and is said to leave most of the incubation and care of 

 the young to her more protectively colored mate. 



VERNON BAILEY. 



