BIRDS MET WITH BY THE WILDFOWLER 335 
northwards in May (hence its name May-bird), and is on the 
return in August. It is absent in winter from the British Isles, 
except in South-West Ireland, where odd specimens occur at 
this season. Its note is a tittering whistle, from which it has 
in some parts gained the name ‘‘titterel.”” In appearance it is 
very much like a common curlew, but may always be dis- 
tinguished by its smaller size and shorter bill, the latter never 
exceeding 34 in. in length. 
ESKIMO CURLEW 
Numenius borealis (J. F. Forster) 
This bird lives in Arctic America, and some eight or nine 
examples have been procured in the British Isles. 
It is rather like a small Whimbrel in appearance, but it may 
be identified by the absence of barring on the primaries, no 
white on the rump, transverse arrow-head markings on the 
under parts, and the axillaries being chestnut barred with 
brown. Length 14 in. ; wing 8:25 in. 
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE 
Phalaropus hyperboreus (Linneus) 
The Phalaropes are delightful little birds of aquatic 
habits, and form a splendid instance of how similar environ- 
ment tends to the production of similar structure. They may 
be easily recognised from other limicoline or wading birds by 
their very close feathering, especially on the breast, and their 
lobed feet, while in the Grey Phalarope especially the bill is 
somewhat flattened, so that in these birds we find a tendency 
towards the flattened bill as in Ducks, lobed feet as in the 
Grebes, and the peculiar thick feathers on the breast char- 
acteristic of Petrels and Gulls. The Phalaropes have also 
another peculiarity unique among British birds, although 
shared by several other groups in different parts of the world, 
namely, that the duties of incubation and rearing of the 
