Gray Phalarope. 451 



Lavington, and Potterne; in 1876 from Easton, and in 1877 from 

 Marston. 



If we exchange the scene from the retired inland pond to the 

 open ocean, we shall find the habits of the Phalarope very like 

 those of the more familiar Coot ; they are, however, perhaps still 

 more aquatic, and they differ in having great power and swiftness 

 of wing. In summer their plumage is of a reddish-chestnut or 

 rich brown hue, but in winter of a light gray colour ; which great 

 variation has given rise to much confusion in identifying these 

 birds as belonging to but one species only. It is most buoyant 

 on the water, and swims with the lightness of a cork, after the 

 fashion of a Gull, as Mr. Cecil Smith well describes it, and keeps 

 on incessantly nodding its head. It is of a bold, fearless, unsus- 

 picious nature, probably resulting from its inexperience of man 

 and his persecutions in the uninhabited regions it frequents. 



Seebohm says that from their habit of following the whales and 

 approaching them when they blow, in order to catch the small 

 marine animals that are then disturbed, they are called by the 

 sailors ' Whale-birds ' and ' Bow- head birds.' The word ' Phala- 

 rope ' has exercised the ingenuity of many to discover its origin ; 

 as when dissected into (frdXaKpos, '" bald-headed,' or ' with a patch 

 of white on the head,' and TTOU?, ' a foot/ the meaning is not very 

 transparent. There can, however, be very little doubt that its 

 true intention is ' Coot-footed,' or ' possessing feet like those of 

 a Coot.' Platyrynchos, 'broad-billed,' was the specific name 

 assigned to it by Temminck, Sabine, and others, and its beak will 

 on examination be found in some degree to answer the descrip- 

 tion. So in Norway, where it is seen on migration to and from 

 its breeding-places in the Arctic regions, it is known as Bred- 

 ndbbad Simm-Sndppa, or 'Broad-billed Swimming Snappa'; 

 and in France, Phalarope platyrhinque ; but in Germany, Roth- 

 bauchiger Wassertreter. 



29-2 



