BIRDS 155 



and erection of the ruff they are all similar. The females and 

 young are all alike, and the males take no part in incubation. 

 The male retains his ruff for barely two months, and there is 

 little difference in the winter plumage between the two sexes. 

 The males are considerably larger than the females, and 

 fight very much like game-cocks, seizing each other by their 

 beaks and striking with their wings. Here we have another 

 instance of a character only developed in the individual male 

 at the time of the year when it performs certain gestures 

 in fighting, gestures which directly affect the development of 

 the character in question. 



Plialaropus is another genus of the same family. In 

 the two species, P. fidicarius and P. hyperboreus, the 

 females are larger, and in their summer plumage more 

 gaily attired, than the males, and according to Professor 

 Steenstrup the male of P. fidicarius alone incubates. 

 The females do not appear to fight, and their greater 

 size must be attributed to their greater activity, for the 

 sex which incubates is necessarily the more sedentary. 

 The habits of the red-necked Phalarope, P. hyperboreus, are 

 described in detail by Mr. Nelson, and his description is 

 quoted by Bowdler Sharpe. The birds breed in Alaska and 

 other circumpolar regions. The female pursues the male, 

 who resists her advances with apparent indifference for some 

 time. She swims along by his side, and at intervals rises 

 on wing above him, and, poised a foot or two over him, 

 makes a half dozen quick, sharp, wing-strokes, producing a 

 series of sharp whistling noises in rapid succession. When 

 paired the male sits on the eggs, while the female swims 

 about close by. Both sexes have a distinct winter and 

 breeding plumage, the Grey Phalarope, P. fidicarius, being 

 grey in winter and sandy buff in the breeding season. The 

 more intense colouring of the female is probably merely due 

 to its greater sexual excitement, as it is difficult to perceive 



