The Red-Necked Phalarope. '°^ 



Family— SCOL OP A CID^. 



Red-Necked Phalarope. 



Phalaropus hyperboreus, LiNN. 



THIS bird — of wliicli I daresay I have seen as much as most people, having 

 encountered forty-five nests with eggs in them in one day, and considerably 

 more than a hundred altogether — is, like its nearest relative just mentioned, rather 

 a puzzle. For it ought to be a comparatively common bird with us on migration, 

 but it is not. It is an abundant breeder in Iceland, and hardly less so in the 

 Faeroes and Northern Scandinavia, Finland, Russian Lapland, Waigatz, Kolguiev, 

 and eastward along the northern coast of Asia to Bering's Straits. In the New 

 World it breeds plentifully in Greenland and across the Continent to Alaska, being 

 therefore circumpolar. It is difficult to understand why it does not occur regularly 

 on our coasts as a migrant. Indeed, in none of its known winter haunts is it 

 anything like so abundant as its numbers in breeding quarters would lead us to 

 expect. If it does not, as has been suggested in the case of the Grey Phalarope, 

 perform only a partial migration, and remains as near its breeding grounds as the 

 openness of the winter allows, the only likely explanation would seem to be that, 

 being essentially a fresh-water bird, it must migrate across country towards the 

 S.E. But this solution presents difficulties, as it has not beeu met with inland 

 in any appreciable numbers. It breeds in small numbers in the north of Scotland, 

 and the nest has been found in the counties of Perth and Inverness, in the 

 Hebrides, Orkneys, and Shetlands, but now, owing to the greed of collectors (or 

 " clutch-mongers," as an indignant acquaintance of mine calls them) some of its 

 British haunts know it no more, which is a grievous pity, as, with the exception 

 of Britain, it is hardly known to breed south of the Arctic Circle. On migration 

 it seems to be more abundant down the Volga, in Persia, and on the China coast, 

 than anywhere, but where the bulk of the individuals get to in winter remains a 

 mystery. West of Italy it is very rare in Europe, east of Italy it must be called 

 scarce. It has occurred in winter in Celebes (Reinwardt), Am (Wallace), and 

 Amboina (Hoedt) ; across the Atlantic in Mexico, and the United States, and once 

 in the Bermudas (Reid), and Guatemala. 



Description of male in summer (Iceland, Norway, etc.) : beak black, very 



