134 LOVE*S MEINIE. 



know what ' Phalarope ' means,* and I believe 

 nobody knows what 'Tringa' means; and as, 

 also, nobody ever sees it, the little bird being 

 obliged to live in Orkney, Greenland, Norway, 

 and Lapland, out of human creatures' way, I 

 shall myself call it the Arctic Fairy. It would 

 come south if we would let it, but of course 

 Mr. Bond says, "The first specimen I ever 

 had was shot by a friend of mine in September, 

 1842, near Southend, Essex, where he saw 

 the phalarope swimming on the water, like a 

 little duck, about a mile from land ; not know- 

 ing what it was, he shot it, and kindly brought 

 it to me." Another was shot while running 

 between the metals of the Great Eastern 

 Railway, near the Stratford station, early in 

 June, 1852; and on the Norfolk coast, four 

 others have been killed during the last fifteen 

 years ; and the birds' visits, thus, satisfactorily, 

 put a stop to. I can therefore study it only 

 in Mr. Gould's drawing, on consulting which, 

 I find the bird to be simply a sea dabchick, — 

 brown stripes on the back, and all ; but the 

 webs of the feet a little finer, and in its habits 



* The terminal ' pe ' is short for pus, (pous !) and ' phalero,' 

 from phalera, fringes — "Fringe-foot" ;Morris). 



