226 GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



the Brown Bank-bird by the fishermen, because of its color and 

 the fact that it is found on the fishing banks, miles from shore. 



In 1831, while about sixty miles oflF Nantucket, Audubon 

 saw hundreds of this species feeding on a bank of floating 

 seaweed. This is its common habit off our coasts. When seen 

 on our shores it is common and sometimes abundant. It is 

 met with occasionally in the Connecticut valley. In May, 

 1892, a remarkable flight was seen at Cape Cod and Nan- 

 tucket.^ 



The flight of the Phalarope resembles that of the Red- 

 backed Sandpiper or the Sanderling. In winter plumage it 

 resembles the Sanderling, being quite white in appearance. 

 "When it fi^st appears in the spring it still retains its winter 

 plumage, but begins to assume the summer or red plumage in 

 May. 



Sometimes this bird is seen just outside the surf, where it 

 flies to and fro alighting on any temporary smooth spot amid 

 the waves, and begins to feed. In such situations it is obliged 

 to rise on the wing often, to avoid the curling waves which 

 threaten to overwhelm it. Like the Northern Phalarope, it 

 sometimes spins around as on a pivot when in pursuit of food. 

 At such times the head and neck are carried erect to the fullest 

 extent. 



Individuals of this species are taken sometimes about inland 

 lakes in New England. More commonly the flocks migrate 

 at sea at a long distance from land. If the sea is calm they 

 rest upon the water, and sometimes prefer to escape from the 

 intruder by swimming rather than by flying. The habit of 

 rising often, flying about and alighting on the water to feed 

 is characteristic of these birds and distinguishes them from the 

 Sandpipers. Sometimes in the interior they get their food by 

 wading about in the shallow water. 



Elliot says that in the northern seas it feeds on the "ani- 

 malculae" which form the food of the right whale, and so 

 it follows that the whalers give it the name of whale-bird, 

 because the presence of large numbers of these birds at sea 

 usually signifles that whales may be expected. 



1 Mackay, George H.: Auk, 1892, pp. 294-298. See also Gerrit Miller, same page. 



