THE NORTHERN PHALAROPE. 431 



and ease, frequently dipping its bill into the water to secure 

 a small marine animal or fly. Its motions are so graceful 

 when thus employed, that the bird has been compared to a 

 swan ; and all writers agree that it is one of the most beauti- 

 ful of our aquatic birds. 



On the shore, it frequents small pools or ponds of water, 

 near the coast, in which it wades and swims with equal 

 facility ; frequently uttering a shrill cry similar to the sylla- 

 bles creet cree teet. It is said that the same pairs are faith- 

 ful to each other for successive seasons. I know not how 

 true this may be ; but it seems not improbable, from the 

 fact, that, in their winter homes on the shores of the Gulf 

 of Mexico, they are most often seen in small parties of three 

 or four, often by pairs. This species breeds in the most 

 northern sections of the continent. It builds its nest about 

 the first week in June, in the Hudson's Bay country : this 

 is constructed of a few pieces of grass and moss, put loosely 

 together, and placed in a tussock of grass or moss. The 

 eggs are usually four in number. They vary in color from a 

 brownish-drab to light-olive, and are thickly covered with 

 large blotches and spots of dark umber : their form is abrupt- 

 ly pyriform, and their dimensions vary from 1.12 by 1.02 

 to 1.06 by .98 inch. 



