GRALLATORES. PHALAROPUS. 161 
Tue genus Phalaropus of Brisson contained not only the 
species to which it is now restricted, but also the Cootfoots, 
or birds belonging to the genus Lobipes of Cuvier, repre- 
sented by the Phalaropus Hyperboreus of authors, and which 
that eminent naturalist judged it expedient to separate from 
the present group, m consequence of the distinct character it 
displayed in the form of the bil. By Laruam, ‘Temminck, 
and other systematists, these birds were placed in an order 
entitled Pinnatipedes, an arrangement completely artificial, 
and which embraced groups widely different, and so far re- 
moved from each other in point of affinity, as to possess, in 
fact, nothing in common except feet imperfectly webbed or 
lobated. According to the natural arrangement, or that 
grounded upon affinity, they are now more appropriately 
classed with the Scolopucida, aid the groups which stand at 
the extremity of that family, or which, departing from the 
central (or more typical) genera, in regard to their habits 
(that are more aquatic), and in the lobated form of their 
feet (that are not unlike those of the Coots), lead the way 
_and serve as a link to comnect it with the succeeding family 
of the Rallide. In the Phalaropes, the formation of the bill 
is nearly the same as that of the Knot, but it is more de- 
pressed throughout its length, and the tip comes to a sharper 
and more determinate point. ‘The general contour of the 
body is also similar to that of the Tringas. The extensive 
development of the membrane connecting and bordering the 
margins of the toes, as well as the thick and closely set plum- 
age of the under parts of the body, indicate more aquatic 
habits, and a greater power of being supported on the water ; 
and we accordingly find, that the Phalaropes are more fre- 
quently seen upon the surface of the ocean, where they float 
at ease even amidst the roughest waves, than on the land, 
where their motions are more confined, and display less of 
the activity that distinguishes the Tringas and other birds 
that frequent the shores. Their moult is double, and the 
changes they undergo are not unlike those of the Tringas. 
VOL. II. L 
