PHALAROPES — SNOWY OWL 13 



The sanderling walks daintily and briskly, with an occasional short run, 



and flies fast and energetically. Its food consists of worms, molluscs, crustaceans, 



and other small inhabitants of the shore. The plumage of the upper part of the 



body is grey in autumn and chestnut in spring, while the under-parts are white, 



with the exception of the brown-spotted breast, and the beak, legs, and feet, 



which are greenish black. In length it is about 8 inches. The sanderling is 



best recognised by its three toes and the large amount of white in its plumage. 



The phalaropes, that is the fringed feet — from their toes bein<r 

 Phalaropes. . 



lobed like those of the grebes — are also birds of the far north where 



they wander about in summer on the shores and feed on insects, molluscs, and 

 algee, leaving them in winter to find their food on the surface of the sea. The 

 red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus hyperboreus) nests in the Arctic regions, 

 mostly in the neighbourhood of the sea, but sometimes also far inland, where 

 it is not found at other seasons. Breeding as far north as Novaia Zemlia, 

 and as far south as Ireland, this bird is abundant in northern Asia and North 

 America. On migration the American birds journey down the continent into 

 Chile, while those from Asia are met with on the shores of the Indian Ocean and 

 the islands of the Malay Archipelago. Phalaropes spend most of their time on 

 the water, swimming high and lightly, and are very grebe-like in their habits, 

 although, owing to the closeness of the feathers and the lightness of the body, 

 they cannot dive. They rise as easily from the water as from the ground, and 

 are as graceful on the wing as when swimming. The red-necked phalaropr, 

 which is 7 inches in length, may be distinguished by its thin, tapering, black 

 beak. The head and shoulder- feathers are dark grey, those of the back and 

 wings being darker, with light edges ; the breast is ashy grey, the neck chestnut, 

 except at the nape, while the under-parts are white, and there is a white 

 bar on the wing. The female, which is larger than the male, has a brighter 

 coloured plumage. Unlike most birds, she selects her mate, and does all the 

 courting, the pair taking turns in sitting on the eggs. 



The grey phalarope (P. fulicarius) frequents similar haunts, breeding all 

 round the North Pole, although most abundantly in northern Siberia, where it 

 nests on the small pools in the lower parts of the tundra. On migration this 

 bird traverses nearly half the globe, having been met with off the coasts of Chile 

 and New Zealand. The grey phalarope is more gregarious than its red-necked 

 relative, being rarely seen alone and often in flocks of fifty or more. In other 

 respects the resemblance between the two is close, the females of the present 

 species being also larger and richer in plumage than the males, and making all 

 the advances during the pairing-season. The eggs of both species are four in 

 number, and both have the same extremely pointed shape, but those of the grey 

 kind are larger and not so deep in their brown ground-colour. On the upper- 

 parts the grey phalarope is dusky grey, and below chestnut ; the tail has the two 

 middle feathers more than half an inch longer than the rest ; and the beak is flat 

 and broad, and yellow, with a black tip. 



The snowy owl (Nyctea scandiaca) not only breeds, but is 



snowy owl. permanently res ident, in the Arctic regions of both hemispheres. 



Naturally it is most abundant where prey is most easily obtained. Although in 



