GRALLATORES. LOBIPES. 165 
as the second joint; the remaining part of the toes having 
lobated membranes, with finely pectinated edges ; nails, 
scarcely extending beyond the ends of the toes, small, fal- 
cated, and sharp-pointed. 
Plumage similar in texture to the genus Phalaropus. 
The different characters exhibited in the form of the bill 
between the Phalaropus hyperboreus of authors, and the 
Phalaropus lobatus, induced Cuvier, in his “ Regne Ani- 
mal,” to separate the former from the latter, and to make 
it the type of a genus, which he entitled Lobipes. In this 
arrangement he has been followed by most of the ornitholo- 
gists of the present day, and the propriety of it is further 
evinced by the discovery of several new species, possessing 
all.the distinct characters of the type. In the Grey Phala- 
rope the form of the bill is described as approaching to that 
of the Knot; in the Lobefoots it is similar to that of the 
Sandpipers, being slender, very little depressed, and acumi- 
nated at the point. In the Lobefoots, the tongue is long, 
slender, and sharp-pointed ; whereas in the Phalaropes, it is 
short, and blunt at the tip: the legs also of the former are 
considerably longer in proportion to the size of the body. 
Their habits, as might be expected from the form of the 
feet, and, from their general resemblance, are very similar to 
those of the Phalaropes, and they swim with equal strength 
and ease. They are the inhabitants of sea coasts, as well as 
of inland fresh-water lakes and rivers, and are widely distri- 
buted, being found in countries differing, to extremes, in 
temperature. The Lobipes hyperborea, which sometimes 
visits our shores, inhabits the arctic regions of Europe and 
North America; the Lobipes incana is a native of South 
America; and another has been found in Africa. Like the 
Phalaropes, and other scolopaceous birds, their moult is 
double, and the plumage of summer is more varied, and of 
brighter tints, than their winter clothing. The feathers of 
the under parts of the body are, in texture, like those of the 
