WILSON’S PHALAROPE 105 
the second joint, thus making a very good pro- 
pelling agent of the foot. 
The bird in the fall is often a plain gray and 
white little fellow which at first glance will pass 
for a ‘‘sandpeep,’’ but its slender bill and pe 
culiarly formed feet will mark it at once. Like 
the others this species is heavily feathered be- 
low to resist the water. 
The Northern Phalarope is about seven 
. inches long, with a sail-spread of about thirteen 
inches, 
WILSON’S PHALAROPE. 
(Steganopus tricolor.) 
This is the largest and perhaps the handsom- 
est of the family. A striking bird which ranks 
high in point of beauty of plumage among the 
waders. 
Wilson’s Phalarope is by no means common 
in New England, nor for that matter anywhere 
east of the Mississippi valley, though abund- 
ant from that region westward. Its summer 
range takes it north to the region of the Sas- 
katchewan, and in the winter it goes down the 
coasts of South America even to Patagonia. 
They breed at any point in their range, pre- 
