PHALAROPODID.K — THE PIIALAROPES — STEGANOPUS. 



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(liM^p wat«n", and l)oiiij,' ol)lij,'i'<l to fly, aii<l seemod to prefer flying to swimming. Tlioy 

 wi'H' not lioanl to utter a note. In their stoniaehs small worms and fragments of 

 viTV ilflii'ate shells wtu'e found. The liirds seen at the l{a[ii(ls of the Ohio flew in 

 till' manner of tiie ("omnion Sniiie, jiroeecding at flrst in an undulating or zigzag line, 

 Imt more steadily alti'r rcaeiiini;- a ei-rtain tdevatitm. 



Mr. Salvin found in the eoUeetion of Don Vineente (Jonstaueia a sjjeeimen of this 

 I'haiarojie whieh had l)een ol)tained ne.ar the City of CJuatenuda, and Swainson states 

 tliat it is nut uncommon (m tiie Itnrders of the lakes adjoining the City of Mexieo, 

 tidui wiienee he received s])ccimens of both adult aiul young. .Mr. Di'esser mentions 

 llial in ScptcndM-r, in travelling from lirownville to San Antonio, he saw what he 

 liad no doulit was a liird of this species, and on the 4th of .fuly, 18()4, he t.iot a pair 

 (III some flooded land near San Antonio. ^Ir. J. .\. Allen found these birds abun- 

 dant in the Valley of (ireat Salt Lake, and they continiu'd so into September, llo 

 considers this one of the most charai-teristie species of that region, wliero it is a suni- 

 iihT resident, lireeding in great nund-ers on the islands anrl .shores of Salt Lake. Mr. 

 i;iil,L;\vay met with the Wilson I'halarope in May at I'yramid Lake in Xevada, and 

 auain saw it in .hine in the ponds lu'ar the Kiver .lonhm in ('tali. It has been 

 iioiieed iu September on the Cohnado Uiver; and Dr. Cooper thence infers that this 

 may lie the species observed iiy him during the summer among the lakes (d' the Cas- 

 cade Hange. This s]>ecies has l)een observed about the rpi>er Missouri in the breed- 

 ing .season, and on the Arkansas Hiver between Forts Larned and Lyons. It has also 

 lireii met with in the sunuuer iu various parts of Minnesota and Dakota. 



Kicliardson states that this I'lialarope breeds on the Saskatchewan Plains ; but it 

 was not met with by him beyond the ii~>th jiarallel, nor were any seen on the coast 

 ol Hudson's l>ay. lie adds that this bird lays two or three eggs among the grass 

 ciii tlie mai'gins of small lakes. The eggs are very obtuse at one end and taper 

 iimch at the other, and have a ground-Cidor intermediate lietween yellowish gray and 

 cream-yellow, interspersed with roundish s])ots and a few larger blotches of umber 

 111 own. most crowded at the obtuse end. The eggs measured 1,;>7 inches in length by 

 .'.II of an iuidi in breadth. 



Specimens of this Phalarf)pe were shot by Mr. William IJrewster at Kye Reach in 

 tiie summer of 1.S7L'. (hraud m»>ntions it as of occasional occiuTenoe at Egg Harbor, 

 New ib-rsey, as well as on Long Island. 



The eggs of this species are pyriform in shajie, the ground varying from a light 

 fawn-coloreil draii to a deep rufous drab. Tlie sjiots are of a dark bistre, of a varying 

 iiiti'iisitv, and very generally di.striliuted. The sjiecimens in the Smithsoijian Col- 

 lection were ]»rocured from different jioints in Iowa, from I^tah and North- ru Illi- 

 niijs. My own are from Northern Illinois and from .Minnesota. j\lr. Kennicott found 

 ii lireeding in the Calumet marshes in Illinois, near Lake Michigan. Mv. 15. V. (Joss, 

 who priK'ured the eggs fi'om ^liuuesota. writes me that it breeds quite commoidy on 

 111 irshes, and generally near water. The nest is almost always cm huunnoeks, (pute 

 deeply excavated, ami lined with dry grasses. One was found on a platform raised 

 aliove the shallow water. 



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