128 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



Subgenus STEGANOPUS Vieillot. 



PHALAROPUS TRICOLOR (Vieill.). 



90. Wilson's Phalarope. (224) 



Adult: — Ashy; upper tail coverts and under parts, ^ihite; 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. Younrj: — Lacking these 

 last colors. Length, 9-10; wing, 5; tail, 2; bill, tarsus and middle toe, each 

 over 1, black. 



Hae. — Temperate North America, chiefly the interior, breeding from north- 

 ern Illinois and Utah northward to the Saskatchewan region, south in wintei- to ■ 

 Brazil and Patagonia. 



Nest, in moist meadows. 



Eggs, three or four, A-ariable in pattern, usually brownish-drab, marked with 

 splashes, spots and scratches of chooolate-browti. 



This is the largest of the Phalaropes and the handsomest of all our 

 waders. Unlike the others of its class, it is rare along the sea coast, 

 but common inland, its line of migration being along the Mississippi 

 Valley. Another peculiarity of the species is that the female is the 

 larger and more gaily attired, and, from choice or necessity, the eggs 

 are incubated by the male. In some other respects their domestic 

 relations are not in accordance with the recognized rules of propriety. 



The first record I had of it as an Ontario species was in Mr. Saun- 

 ders' " List of Birds of Western Ontario," where mention is made of 

 one having been taken at Mitchell's Bay in May, 1882. I did not 

 hear of it again until I received the report of the Sub-section of the 

 Canadian Institute, in which it is stated that, at a meeting held June 

 2nd, 1890, Mr. Wm. Cross reported having received on the 2nd inst. 

 a female Wilson's Phalarope in full breeding plumage, ■s\hich had 

 been shot in Toronto marsh. At a subsequent meeting held Septem- 

 ber 23rd, it was stated that, while Mr. Bunker was watching for 

 ■ducks off the sand bar at the west end of the Island, a Wilson's 

 Phalarope pitched among his decoys and was secured. So the record 

 of Ontario stands for the present. 



It is more common in the interior than along the sea coasts, and 

 is now known to breed in suitable places throughout the northern 

 tier of States, and also from the Red River to the Rockies, alona- the 

 boundary line. 



On July 24th, 1880, Mr. Macoun reports finding it breeding around 

 the ponds at Moose Mountain. 



The prairie ponds seem to be the favorite resort of this beautiful 

 species, and as these are not common in Ontario, we may not have 

 the birds except as visitors. 



