THE GREY PH ALA ROPE. 119 



name of a rare bird, as specimens are met with nearly every 

 year in many parts of our coast; but in former times it 

 was considered quite a rara avis, and Pennant could only 

 enumerate two instances in which it had appeared on the 

 British shores. 



The general habits of these birds on terra firma some- 

 what resemble those of the Sandpipers, but they are not 

 nearly so nimble in their movements. In the mouths of 

 large rivers, and upon those parts of the coast where 

 broad reaches of sand or muddy deposits are numerous, 

 and interspersed with pools of water, the Grey Phalarope 

 may be met with. Sometimes, about September or October, 

 the birds appear in considerable numbers ; they do not 

 congregate, and seldom more than one or two are seen 

 together. As many as a dozen have been shot in one day 

 in the vicinity of Brighton, but always when the weather 

 is very rough ; and, as a rule, when they arrive their bodily 

 condition is poor and thin. At this time they are very 

 tame, and are often killed with stones ; but as soon as the 

 gale is over they leave the shore for the open sea. 



The true home and proper range of this pretty bird is 

 undoubtedly near the Arctic Circle, and on the shores of 

 Iceland, Greenland, and similar localities. There the 

 insect food upon which it feeds is found in the greatest 

 abundance; and there, especially during summer, large 

 numbers are invariably met with. It is also said to 

 be a visitor to the United States, Siberia, Norway, 

 Sweden, and the shores of the large Asian lakes and the 

 Caspian Sea. 



Audubon states that during winter he found them in 

 large flocks on the Ohio, swimming along the margin., and 

 picking up seeds of grass, &c. He also observed them at 



