328 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA 



and northern TJngava; in the Old World from the limit of tree growth north to 

 the Arctic coast. Winter range in Western Hemisphere unknown, but prob- 

 ably on ocean south of equator; in Eastern Hemisphere winters in northern 

 tropics. During migration occurs in almost all localities between breeding 

 and winter ranges (Cooke, 1910, pp. 16-18; A. O. U. Check-list, 1910, pp. 107- 

 108). 



Distribution in California — Spring and fall migrant coastwise,' less com- 

 mon in the interior. Occurs abundantly both in northward migration in May 

 (extreme dates May 1 and June 19), and in southward migration from late 

 July (earliest, the 11th, at Monterey) to late October (November 16, latest 

 at Santa Barbara). Stragglers may winter within the state, as suggested by 

 the records from Humboldt Bay (C. H. Townsend, 1887, p. 198); Stockton, in 

 January (Belding, MS); and San Diego (McGregor, 1898, p. 88). Interiorly, 

 in spring migration seems to keep to west side of San Joaquin Valley (east 

 to Fresno), but in fall migrates down Sierras (Lake Tahoe) to southern San 

 Joaquin Valley and western side of Mohave Desert. 



Among the shore birds there are none more dainty, more unsus- 

 picious and more entertaining than the Phalaropes, of which the 

 Northern is the smallest and most widely known. With its nesting 

 range centering almost on the Arctic Circle and its winter home 

 somewhere in the vast expanse of the Southern Hemisphere, the 

 Northern Phalarope presents one of the most interesting problems 

 in migration. Among the fishermen of the North Pacific Ocean these 

 birds together with the Red Phalaropes are known as "Bow-head 

 Birds" by reason of their feeding on the same small marine animals 

 as the bow-head or right whale. They are also known in these regions 

 as "Sea Geese" because of the erect posture of their head and neck 

 while they are on the water. East of the Sierras in the region of Mono 

 Lake they have been called "Mono Lake Pigeons." Writers have 

 also referred to them as "Lobe-foots," a name which they might 

 appropriately share with the other two phalaropes. 



Northern Phalaropes begin to appear off our coast by the first day 

 of May, becoming abundant by late May or early June from which 

 time on they rapidly decrease in numbers until about the middle of 

 the month -when they disappear. Dawson (1916, p. 25) records seeing 

 five on Goose Lake, Modoc County, June 24, 1912. As with many 

 other shore birds the breeding season of the Northern Phalarope is 

 exceedingly short, the great bulk of the individuals beginning to nest 

 within a few days of one another. This accounts for the fact that 

 barely five or six weeks elapse between the time that the last of the 

 north-bound migrants disappear in June, and the time when the 

 advance guard of the south-bound host reaches our latitude in the 

 latter part of July. From this time on, the species increases in abun- 

 dance; its numbers are maintained during August and September, 

 after which time it again becomes rare. The last of the birds disappear 

 by late October or early November. The few records of birds having 



