118 FAMILIAR WILD BIELS. 



and back of the head are also a dusky black. The back of 

 the neck, scapulars, upper wing-coverts, and the back are 

 a beautiful pearl-grey ; tail short, feathers ash-grey, with 

 white edges. There is a small patch of pearl-grey just 

 before the point of the wings, and with this exception the 

 entire under surface of the body is pure white ; the legs 

 and toes are yellowish-brown, and the claws black. The 

 feet are not webbed, but furnished with lobe-shaped 

 membranes on each side of the toes, resembling those of 

 the Coot. 



In summer the change is great. The beak is yellow; 

 around the base of the beak, and on the top of the head, a 

 dark brownish-black ; irides dark brown ; there is a white 

 patch around the eye, and a narrow stripe down the back 

 of the neck ; the front and sides of the neck, the breast, 

 and all the under surface of the body a reddish-chestnut ; 

 quill and tail feathers nearly black; and the remaining 

 portions leaden-grey, margined with white or orange-yellow. 



The Grey Phalarope feeds upon small, thin-skinned 

 Crustacea and marine insects, and searches for them both 

 on the shore and on the water. These birds are inde- 

 fatigable swimmers, and are occasionally met with far out 

 at sea in diligent pursuit of food. In the act of swimming 

 the head is held back, and their general appearance then is 

 not dissimilar to that of the Teal. 



The breeding stations, as far as can be ascertained, are 

 confined entirely to the high northern latitudes. The 

 number of eggs laid is usually four. They are rather 

 more than an inch in length, and about ten and a half 

 lines in breadth. The grounding is a stone colour tinged 

 with olive, and spotted and speckled with dark brown. 



In Great Britain the Grey Phalarope hardly merits the 



