GEEY PHALAEOPE 261 



with hundreds of miles from land ; and off the coasts it is 

 "a delightful sight to watch these birds gathering their food 

 in the high-running surf, or when that is done peacefully 

 floating outside the breakers " (Newton). 



This bird will also pick the parasites off the backs of 

 whales and other cetaceans (Saunders). 



Voice. The voice is clear and sharp, resembling the 

 syllable tweet; the note of the female, sometimes heard, 

 may be syllabled kluik-ink-ink. 



Nest. The Grey Phalarope nests on the ground, laying 

 its eggs in a depression scratched in soft, moss-covered soil. 

 The breeding-haunts are usually near water, i.e., by the 

 margin of a small lake or pool. The eggs, four in number, 

 are light yellowish, shading to greenish-brown, well marked 

 with blotches and spots of dark brown. It is a rather 

 singular characteristic of Phalaropes, that while the male 

 takes the task of incubation and of rearing the young, his 

 spouse, more active and gaily plumed, carries on the major 

 part of the courtship. 



When hatching, this species is wonderfully tame, allow- 

 itself almost to be handled. 



The Grey Phalarope will live in captivity, and birds, even 

 when slightly wounded by gunshot, have thriven for months 

 and years. Thompson, in his 'Natural History of Ireland,' 

 mentions an instance of a Phalarope which got entangled in 

 fishing-nets spread out to dry. A few hours after capture 

 the bird fed upon fragments of fish from the hands of its 

 owner. The same writer also states-, " A Phalarope, shot 

 near Belfast as long ago as 1818, was wounded in the wing 

 and came into the possession of Mr. John Sinclaire. He 

 kept it on his pond for several months. It was fed on 

 worms, was very tame, and its buoyancy on the water met 

 with the highest admiration." , 



Geographical distribution. This species resorts in 

 the nesting-season to the high Arctic regions of Europe 

 (viz., Spitzbergen), Asia, and America. On its winter 



dozen ' maggots ' or larvce of a fly, such as might be found along banks. 

 They were very slender and nearly half an inch long. A previous meal 

 consisted of about the same quantity of a small gasteropod shell, prob- 

 ably Hydrobia ulvce, which occurs abundantly in brackish water round 

 the coast of Ireland. The surfaces of the shells were much worn, and 

 must have been in the gizzard for some time, while the maggots were 

 quite fresh/' 



