464 BIRDS — PHALAEOPODID^. 



or pale brownish-olive, blotched all over 'with spots and splashes of brown and blackish- 

 brown, of irregular Biz?& and shape." 



FAMILY PHALAROPODID^. PHALAROPES. 



General characters of iScoJopacidai. Body depressed ; the under plumage thickened 

 and duck-like. Toes lobate. Tarsi compressed. Habits natatorial. 



Genus STEGANOPUS. Vieillot. 



Membranes of toes straight-edged ; bill very slender, awl-shaped, longer than the 

 head. 



Steganopus wilsoni (Sab.) Ca. 



"Wilson's I'lialarope. 



FTialaropua icilsoni, Kirtland, Ohio Geolog.Eep., 1838, 165, 185. — Wheatost, Ohio Agric, 

 Eep. for 1860, 363, 377; Reprint, 1861, 10, 19. 



Steganopus wilsonii, Wheaton, Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Eep. for 1874, 572 ; Re- 

 print, 1875, 12. 



Steganopits wilsoni, Langdon, Cat. Birds of Gin., 1877, 12 ; Revised List, Jonrn. Gin. Soo. 

 Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 188 ; Reprint, 22. 



Wilson's Phalarope, Kirtland, Fam. Visitor, i, 1850, 164. 



Phalaropvs wilsoni, Sabine, App. Franklin's Journ., 1823, 691. 

 Steganopus wilscni, Cotjes, Ibis, Apl., 1865. 



Adnlt ashy ; upper tail-coverts and under parts white ; a black stripe from the eye 

 down the side of the neck spreading into rich purplish-chestnut, which also variegates 

 the back and shades the throat; young lacking these last colors. Length, 9-10 ; wing, 

 5 ; tail, 2 ; bill, tarsus and middle toe, each over 1, black. 



' Habitat, United States and British Provinces, generally. North to the Saskatchewan. 

 Rare or casual in the Eastern United States. Common in the Mississppi Valley and 

 westward. Breeds in Western United States and in the interior of the far countries in 

 the lower latitudes. Mexico, Central and South America, in winter. 



Not common spring and fall migrant. Probably breeds in North- 

 western Ohio. Dr. Kirtland notes the visit of a flock to Mill Creek, 

 in Trumbull county. It is reported by Mr. Winslow as having been re- 

 peatedly taken in the vicinity of Cleveland. It is not included in Mr. 

 Langdon's last list, though I have been informed that it has been taken 

 in the vicinity of Cincinnati. I have never seen it in this vicinity. It 

 is a common summer resident in Northern Indiana (^Brayton), abun- 

 dant in Northern Illinois, and undoubtedly is a not uncommon resident 

 throughout the summer in some localities in Northwestern Ohio. 



To Mr. E, W. Wilson, we are indebte'S for the most complete biography 

 of this bird yet written. I quote from his paper ifa Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 

 ii^ 1877, 58; 



"In Northern Illinois, where the following observations were made, Wilson's Phalarope 

 is the most common summer resident, occurring about grassy marshes and low prairies 



