The Henpecked Shorebird That Goes to Sea 145 



color. At the time of my visit the firs were shedding pollen 

 which was drifting close to shore in a floating windrow of 

 yellow. From my faltboat I spied a northern phalarope busily 

 pecking among the bright grains. I watched closely and was 

 quite certain that the bird was eating the yellow dust, and 

 the more I looked the more certain I became until at last I 

 began to examine the shining band with my binoculars. Then 

 I found there were small brown insects on the water and 

 that they, and not the grains, were being eaten. Had not the 

 surface been absolutely smooth and my time unlimited I 

 would have left with the thought that I had seen a phalarope 

 eating pollen of the fir. Never have I read of another phala- 

 rope swimming on a mountain lake in such a sheet of golden 

 yellow. 



Because I had never seen a phalarope except when it was 

 swimming, I was astonished to find some days later that a 

 small bird which I saw running about the lily pads in the 

 marsh was a northern phalarope. It paraded among the water 

 lilies as if it were an avian mannequin. The faint blush of its 

 light breast, the tawny stripes which broke up the darkness 

 of its back, the small and typical phalarope stripe behind the 

 eye, the sharp bill— all could be seen perfectly. Field glasses 

 were only an annoyance because the bird often came within 

 four feet as it fed over the pads in much the same way as the 

 spotted sandpiper, which always sought the rich insect life 

 present in August. Unlike the sandpiper it was careless or 

 awkward so that it continually walked off the edge of the 

 pad and into the water, from which it emerged with a flutter 

 of wings and a sprinkling of drops, and then began feeding 

 again. Because the pads were black with insects of several 

 sizes, its intake was only limited by the speed of its attack. 

 It went round and round on the fifteen-foot circle of pads, 

 always oblivious of my presence, never still, intent on the 

 satisfaction of an appetite which might have been due to the 

 fact that it had just arrived at the marsh after a long flight. 



