42 BULLETIN OF THE NUTTALL 



salute each othei- by alternately bowing or lowering their heads ; 

 but their courtship is characterized by a lack of the rivalry and 

 vehemence usually exhibited by birds. A male is often accompa- 

 nied by two females at first, but as soon as his choice is made the 

 rejected bird joins her fortunes with some more impressible swain. 



The nesting-site is usually in some thin tuft of grass on a level 

 spot, but often in an open place concealed by only a few straggling 

 blades of small car ices. The male scratches a shallow depression in 

 the soft earth, which is usually lined with a thin layer of fragments 

 of old grass blades, upon which the eggs, numbering from three to 

 four, are deposited about the last of May or first of June. Owing 

 to the low situations in which the nests are placed, the first set of 

 eggs is often destroyed by a heavy fall of rain, causing the water 

 to rise so as to submerge the nest. In this case the second set, 

 numbering two or three, are often deposited in a depression 

 scratched in the ground, as at first, but with no sign of any 

 lining. Accidents of this kind cause the second set of eggs to be 

 sometimes deposited as late as the last of June. 



The young usually appear about the third week of June, and are 

 able to fly in about three weeks. Generally a number of paii's nest 

 upon the same marsh. In some instances as many as fifty may be 

 counted within the radius of a mile ; but, notwithstanding this, 

 their nests are extremely difficult to discover, the material and 

 the color of the eggs correspond so closely to the appearance of 

 the surrounding surface. If they are disturbed while building, 

 the nest is usually abandoned. Incubation is attended to by the 

 male alone.* The female, however, keeps near, and is quick to 

 give the alarm upon the approach of dangei'. The females are fre- 

 quently found at this time in small parties of six or eight; and 

 should their breeding-ground be approached, exhibit great anxiety, 

 coming from every part of the marsh to meet the intruder, and, hover- 

 ing over bis head, utter a weak nasal note, which can be heard to 



• [As above stated by Mr. Nelson, Mr. Kumlien was the first to call atten- 

 tion to this fact, as regards the present species, as well as to the fact of the 

 female being larger and brighter-colored than the male. European authors 

 have recorded the same sexual peculiarities of plumage in the Red and the 

 Northern Phalaropes {Phalaropus fulicarius daii Lobipes hyperborcus), and also, 

 in respect to the former, that the male alone undertakes the duties of incubation. 

 In these species the male is said to show much greater devotion to the young, 

 when exposed to danger, than does the female. —J. A. Allen.] 



