RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. 91 



The Red-necked Phalarope, like the Snow-Bunting, is one of those birds 

 which are not known to breed on the continent south of the Arctic circle, 

 except at some thousand feet above the level of the sea, but which breed 

 in Scotland at no very great elevation, nearly ten degrees further south. 

 My son, who visited the Outer Hebrides last spring, has furnished me 

 with the following particulars of the breeding of this charming bird on the 

 island of North Uist : 



" The Red-necked Phalarope is extremely common in North Uist, but, 

 as far as I know, they are entirely confined to one colony in the north- 

 west of the island. The place chosen by these birds as a breeding-ground 

 is a large marsh about two miles from the sea, one mass of small pools and 

 islands covered with grass. The nests are situated on the edge of the 

 marsh on the dry ground ; and although the water was alive with birds 

 during my visit, I did not find a single nest on any of the small islands. 

 The nest is simply a slight depression in the ground, very much like that 

 of a Snipe, containing four eggs. As soon as the birds were disturbed 

 from the nests they flew to the nearest pool of water, where they swam 

 about quite unconcerned, throwing their little heads back, and ever 

 and anon dipping their bills into the water, looking very much like a lot 

 of miniature ducks. They were extremely tame, so much so that a dog 

 we had with us caught several in its mouth. The note is a sharp tweet, 

 tweet. They are said to arrive in North Uist about the end of May, 

 leaving again early in the autumn. I visited the colony in the middle of 

 June, and found most of the eggs pretty well incubated. There are also 

 large colonies of Phalaropes breeding in the islands of Benbecula and 

 South Uist." 



The eggs of the Red-necked Phalarope are four in number, and vary in 

 ground-colour from pale buff and rich ochraceous buff to pale olive, thickly 

 blotched, spotted, and speckled with rich umber-brown, blackish brown, and 

 pale brown, and with a few greyish underlying markings. Some eggs are 

 much more boldly and richly spotted than others, and on some many of 

 the markings take an oblique direction. The spots are largest and finest 

 round the large end of the egg, sometimes entirely covering it. They vary 

 in length from 1-2 to T05 inch, and in breadth from '85 to '8 inch. The 

 eggs of this bird resemble very closely those of the Grey Phalarope ; the 

 character and colour of the markings are precisely the same, but they may 

 almost invariably be distinguished by their smaller size. Only one brood 

 appears to be reared in the year. It is a noteworthy fact that the male 

 bird performs most, if not all, of the duties of incubation, and tends the 

 young more assiduously than the female. The female is a more showy 

 bird, and would probably be more conspicuous sitting on the nest, or 

 attract by her brilliant tints the numerous enemies to her helpless young. 



The adult female Red-necked Phalarope in breeding- plumage has the 



