PHALAROPES 239 



With some species (e. g., Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers) there is 

 no post Juvenal molt, the post Juvenal plumage being also the first 

 winter plumage. The larger number, however, acquire a winter plumage 

 by post Juvenal molt during the fall migration. At the postnuptial 

 molt, which often occurs during migration, the adults assume a plumage 

 similar to the first winter plumage of the immature bird, when, as a rule, 

 old and young birds, males and females, are alike in color. The spring 

 or prenuptial molt often begins in January or February, which involves 

 all the body feathers, and, in some cases, also the wings and tail (see 

 Dwight). 



1888. SEEBOHM, H., Distribution of the Family Charadriidse, 4to, pp. 524, 

 plls. 21. 1895. ELLIOT, D. G., North American Shore Birds, 8vo, pp. 268; 

 plls. 74 (Francis Harper). 1897. CORY, C. B., How to Know the Shore 

 Birds, 8vo, pp. 89; many ills. 1900. DWIGHT, J., JR., The Moult of 

 the North American Shore Birds, Auk, XVII, 368-385. 1903. HUNT- 

 INGTON, D. W., Our Feathered Game, 8vo, pp. 396, plls. 37. 1903. 

 SANFORD, L. C., BISHOP, L. B., VAN DYKE, T. S., The Water-Fowl Family, 

 12mo, pp. ix + 598, plls. 20 (Macmillan). 1905. JOB, H. K., Wild Wings, 

 203-255. (Hough ton, Mifflin.) 1905. CLARK, A. H., Migrations of Certain 

 Shore Birds, Auk, XXII, 134-140. 1907. RICH, W. H., Feathered Game of 

 the Northeast, 8vo, pp. 432, plls. 87. 1910. COOKE, W. W, Distribution 

 and Migration of North American Shore Birds, Bull. 35, Biol. Surv. U. S. 

 Dept. Agr., plls. 4, pp. 100. 



24. FAMILY PHALAROPODIDJE. PHALAROPES. (Fig. 43a.) 



There are three known members of this family: one is confined to 

 the interior of North America, the other two may be called Sea Snipe, 

 and are found in the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. The 

 lobate feet of these pelagic species enable them to swim with ease, and 

 during their migrations they may be found in flocks resting upon the 

 sea, far from land. After nesting, their presence on land is largely depend- 

 ent upon the weather, severe storms sometimes bringing them to our 

 coasts in numbers. Contrary to the usual rule, the female in this family 

 is the larger and more brightly colored indeed, in the domestic economy 

 of the Phalarope household, the female is male, except in the prime 

 essentials of sex. She does the wooing, takes the lead in selecting the 

 nesting-site, and, although she lays the eggs, the duties of incubation 

 fall upon the male. 



1908. CHAPMAN, F. M., Camps and Cruises, 268-271 ; 321, 322. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES 



A. Bill over 1*10 224. WILSON'S PHALAROPE. 



B. Bill under I'lO. 



a. Bill very slender ; wing under 4*75 . . 223. NORTHERN PHALAROPE. 



b. Bill stout; wing over 4*75 222. RED PHALAROPE. 



222. Phalaropus fulicarius (Linn.}. RED PHALAROPE. Toes webbed 

 at base and with scalloped lobes terminally; bill heavy, wider than deep. 

 Ad. 9 in summer. Crown and chin fuscous; cheeks white; back black, the 

 feathers bordered with cream-buff; wings gray; some of the secondaries and 



