106 FEATHERED GAME 
ferably in the northern marshes, laying three 
or four eggs, drab colored with brownish spots. 
If these birds were ‘‘humans’’ Mrs. Phalarope 
would probably be ‘‘strong-minded’’ and march 
in the front rank of the army of ‘‘new women,”’ 
‘‘going gadding,’’ and lecturing against ‘‘that 
tyrant, Man!’’ As it is, being only a bird, she 
is content to make Mr. Phalarope do all the 
duty in hatching the eggs and rearing the 
youngsters, while the lady of the family wears 
the good clothes, puts on the style and does the 
ornamental for the pair. She even does the 
courting in the spring, thus again reversing the 
general order of things in bird life. She is 
larger as well as more gaudy in her dress than 
is her poor, down-trodden mate. This species is 
distinctively American, as might be guessed 
from the independence of the lady bird in her 
domestic affairs. 
In its breeding dress the female Wilson’s Pha- 
larope is marked thus: bill quite long and very 
slender, tapering nearly to a needle point. The 
nostril is almost lost in the feathers at the base 
of the bill. Forehead and crown a beautiful 
bluish ash, the same color running down to the 
nape, there whitening and continuing to the 
