BROWN PHALAROPB. 15 



of the links between the waders and the web-footed tribes, having the 

 form of the Sandpipers, with some of the habits of the gulls : the scal- 

 loped membranes on their toes enabling them to swim with facility. 

 They are clothed with a thick coat of feathers, beneath which, as in the 

 Ducks, lies a mass of down, to protect them from the rigors of the 

 northern climates, of which they are natives. They do not appear to 

 be fond of the neighborhood of the ocean, and are generally found in 

 the interior, about the lakes, ponds, and streams of fresh water, where 

 they delight to linger, swimming near the margin in search of seeds and 

 insects. 



They are nowhere numerous, are commonly seen in pairs, and are so 

 extremely tame and unsuspicious, that one may approach to within a 

 few feet of them. 



The genus Lobipes, of the Baron Cuvier, is founded upon this species ; 

 and it must be confessed, that its characters are sufficiently distinct, 

 from those of the bird which follows, to authorize such a separation ; 

 but unless some new species should be discovered, we see no impropriety 

 in associating the two birds already known, taking care, however, to 

 preserve a consistency in the generic characters, which Temminck, in 

 his Manuel, has not sufficiently observed. 



In the appendix to Montagu's Supplement to the Ornithological Dic- 

 tionary, we find the following remarks on this species, there named 

 fulicaria : " We have before mentioned, that this bird had been ob- 

 served in the Orkneys, in considerable abundance, in the summer, and 

 that no doubts were entertained of its breeding there, although the nest 

 had not been found. To Mr. Bullock, therefore, we are indebted for the 

 further elucidation of the natural history of this elegant little bird. In 

 a letter to the author, this gentleman says, ' I found the Red Phalarope 

 common in the marshes of Sanda and Westra, in the breeding season, 

 but which it leaves in the autumn. This bird is so extremely tame that 

 I killed nine without moving out of the same spot, being not in the least 

 alarmed at the report of a gun. It lays four eggs, of the shape of that 

 of a snipe, but much less, of an olive color, blotched with dusky. It 

 swims with the greatest ease, and when on the water looks like a beautiful 

 miniature of a duck, carrying its head close to the back, in the manner 

 of a Teal.' " 



Mr. Bullock further observes, " that the plumage of the female is 

 much lighter, and has less of the rufous than the other sex."* 



Note. — Since the foregoing was written, I have had an opportunity 

 of examining the identical specimen, from which Wilson's drawing was 

 taken, as it still remains in the Albany Museum. It is of the same 



* From Mr. Ord's supplementary volume. 



