GRALLATORES. LOBIPES. 165 



as the second joint ; the remaining part of the toes having 

 lobated membranes, with finely pectinated edges ; nails, 

 scarcely extending beyond the ends of the toes, small, fal- 

 cated, and sharp-pointed. 



Plumage similar in texture to the genus Phalaropus. 



The different characters exhibited in the form of the bill 

 between the Phalaropus liyperboreus of authors, and the 

 Phalaropus lobatus, induced CUVIER, in his " Regne Ani- 

 mal," to separate the former from the latter, and to make 

 it the type of a genus, which he entitled Lobipes. In this 

 arrangement he has been followed by most of the ornitholo- 

 gists of the present day, and the propriety of it is further 

 evinced by the discovery of several new species, possessing 

 all the distinct characters of the type. In the Grey Phala- 

 rope the form of the bill is described as approaching to that 

 of the Knot ; in the Lobefoots it is similar to that of the 

 Sandpipers, being slender, very little depressed, and acumi- 

 nated at the point. In the Lobefoots, the tongue is long, 

 slender, and sharp-pointed ; whereas in the Phalaropes, it is 

 short, and blunt at the tip : the legs also- of the former are 

 considerably longer in proportion to the size of the body. 

 Their habits, as might be expected from the form of the 

 feet, and, from their general resemblance, are very similar to 

 those of the Phalaropes, and they 'swim with equal strength 

 and ease. They are the inhabitants of sea coasts, as well as 

 of inland fresh-water lakes and rivers, and are widely distri- 

 buted, being found in countries differing, to extremes, in 

 temperature. The Lobipes hyperborea, which sometimes 

 visits our shores, inhabits the arctic regions of Europe and 

 North America; the Lobipes incana is a native of South 

 America ; and another has been found in Africa. Like the 

 Phalaropes, and other scolopaceous birds, their moult is 

 double, and the plumage of summer is more varied, and of 

 brighter tints, than their winter clothing. The feathers of 

 the under parts of the body are, in texture, like those of the 



