RED-N ECKED 

 PHALAROPE if! 



PhalaropMS kyperboreus 



HE Red-necked Phalarope is a summer visitor to our 

 Islands, but its only breeding-grounds are in the Shetlands 

 .and the Outer Hebrides. It has also been recorded as 

 breeding in Caithness and Sutherland. In the rest of 

 our Islands it is only known as a rare visitor. 



The favourite breeding-haunts of the Red-necked 

 Phalarope are the swamps where there are little pools 



of water and tussocks of short, soft grass. Nothing can exceed its tameness ; 

 it will swim about in the water among the leaves of the bog-bean, like 

 some miniature Water-hen, within three feet of the observer. It progresses 

 in a series of jerks in a zigzag direction, bobbing its head like a Water-hen ; 

 it floats very lightly on the water, and rises with ease in the air without any 

 splashing. It can fly with great rapidity, and may often be seen twisting 

 about like a Snipe as it flies. 



The food of the Red-necked Phalarope is composed of small worms, 

 tiny fresh-water shells, crustaceans, and insects. I watched it picking small 

 flies from the surface of the water as it swam, and searching the leaves of 

 the bog-bean as it paddled about. Its call-note is a clear, sharp ' wick, wick} 

 repeated at short intervals, and I heard the males uttering a curious rasping 

 note as they careered swiftly over the marsh in wide zigzagging circles. 



It arrives in Shetland early in June, slightly earlier in the Outer Hebrides, 

 but eggs are not laid till nearly the middle of the month. It does not seem 

 to breed on the little islands in the pools of water as a rule, but prefers to 

 make its nest among the grass round the edge of the swamp. I spent a long 

 time watching the little birds on the water, but as it was well on in the month 

 saw chiefly the females. In this species the male is the more silver-coloured, 

 and does most, if not all, of the sitting on the eggs, besides tending the young 

 VOL. in. H 29 



