Limicolce 199 



The Red-necked Phalarope {Phalaropus lobatus) is 

 another exceptionally interesting bird, being one of 

 those confined, in our islands, to the Shetlands, 

 Orkneys, Hebrides, and one locality in Ireland. In 

 colour it is mainly grey above and white below, but is 

 varied with rust-colour and white on the upper parts, 

 and has rich chestnut on the sides and front of the neck, 

 while the breast is grey and the tail brown. In this 

 genus it happens that the male is the smaller and duller 

 bird. During winter the head and upper parts generally 

 are much whiter. This Phalarope only remains in its 

 British breeding quarters from May to August, and 

 very few visit us on migration ; but from Iceland and 

 the Faeroes to the fells of Scandinavia and the Arctic 

 regions of both worlds it is abundant in summer. 

 A pretty Httle nest of grass and the hke is biult in 

 a tuft of herbage in marshy places, and four greenish 

 or brownish eggs with black-brown markings are laid. 

 The parents are very tame. The note is a querulous 

 tweet, the flight wavering, the food of insects, worms, 

 and crustaceans. The bill in this genus is long and 

 straight, while the toes are furnished with lobed mem- 

 branes, as in the Coots. Phalaropus means "Coot-foot." 



The Orey Phalarope (P fuUcarius), a larger bird 

 with shorter beak, has an Arctic range which extends aU 

 round the north polar regions ; it migrates to Britain 

 only in certain years, though then often in great nimibers 

 to our more southerly coasts, while it has not un- 

 commonly been killed far inland. It is only in winter 

 that this species is, grey ; in summer it is chestnut 

 below and black and rufous above, the cheeks and a 

 bar on the wing alone being white. The head is 

 nearly black. The habits are those of the last-named 



