692 KEPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., informs me of its breeding in Lake County. 

 He says they are common about July 4, and usually leave for the 

 south very early, generally by the last of July or first of August. Oc- 

 casionally they may be found well into September. I have shot these 

 birds in Cook County, Illinois, near the Indiana line, late in May. 



They are not found numerously east of the vicinity of the lower end 

 of Lake Michigan. Mr. A. L. Kumlein calls our attention to the fact 

 that the female is not only more brilliant in plumage, but also larger 

 than the male. The female pursues the male during the pairing sea- 

 son. The male attends to the duties of incubation almost entirely 

 alone. (Field and Forest, July, 1876.) 



T.o Mr. E. W. Nelson, who is authority on all matters relating to 

 these graceful yet queer Phalaropes, we are indebted for our knowl- 

 edge of its. habits. He studied .it in Cook County, Illinois, 

 and he may occasionally have crossed into Indiana, At any rate, since 

 birds do not know political boundaries, we shall .assume that they be- 

 have in the same manner in Illinois that they do in our own State, and 

 I shall give a portion of his account of his observations. He found 

 their nests from May 25 to June 25. (B. N. 0. C., II, 1877, pp. 

 40-43.) 



In northern Illinois, where the following observations were made, 

 Wilson's Phalarope is the most common summer resident, occurring 

 about grassy marshes and low prairies, and is not exceeded in num- 

 bers by even the ever-present Spotted Sandpiper. As is the case with 

 several other species of birds, Lake Michigan appears to form a limit 

 to its common occurrence in the eastern portion of its range. 



On the west it extends to the Eocky Mountains, and between these 

 limits it has been recorded during the breeding season from the 

 Saskatchewan to Arkansas (Coues), and to the City of Mexico (Nut- 

 tall.) It is more closely confined to its favorite haunts than most 

 water birds, and this may in a measure account for the little hitherto 

 known regarding its habits. During the first two weeks of May, the 

 exact date varying with the season, this beautiful bird first makes its 

 appearance in northeastern Illinois. Its arrival is heralded by a few 

 females, which arrive first, and are found singly about the marshes. 

 At this time the females have a peculiar harsh note, which I have 

 heard but a few times, and only from solitary individuals, before the 

 arrival of the main body. 



A few days later small flocks, embracing both sexes, may be found 

 along the borders of grassy pools or lying at midday on the sunny 

 side of some warm knoll in the marsh. As the breeding season ap- 

 proaches they become more restless, flying from place to place, and 



