LOBIPES. 



nately been placed in the genera Tringa and Phalaropus. The genus Cri- 

 mophilus has been formed from one species ; while that of Lobipes was made 

 for the reception of the other. In Phalaropus, where we only retain P. pla- 

 tyrinchus, the bill is broad, flat, strong, and hooked at the tip ; the tongue 

 short, rounded at the tip, and broad ; the tarsi are short and strong, and very 

 little flattened ; the toes are rather short, with broad and deeply scalloped 

 membranes ; and the general form is robust. In Lobipes, where we propose 

 placing the remaining species, the bill is long, slender, smooth, and in some 

 species slightly bending upwards ; the tongue is slender and pointed ; the 

 tarsi rather long and flattened ; the toes long in proportion, not so broadly 

 webbed, and the scalloped edges of the membrane in some species scarcely 

 perceptible. They are finely and elegantly shaped, as in many of the Totani. 

 These discrepancies of character show the necessity of a division, which we 

 have no doubt will be strengthened, as we become better acquainted with 

 the natural economy of the group. 



They inhabit the sea-coasts, the shores of inland lakes, and occasionally 

 occur on the banks of rivers, feeding on Molluscae, or aquatic insects. They 

 readily take the water, and swim expertly. Lobipes hyperboreus is often 

 met with far out at sea, swimming and collecting the marine animalcula? 

 which abound in the latitudes where it chiefly frequents. The plumage is 

 close and thick, and of a downy texture, adapted to resist the effects of water ; 

 and they have a marked difference in the colouring of their plumage during 

 the summer and winter seasons. In summer, or during the period of incu- 

 bation, it consists of different shades of brown and red : in the winter, of grey 

 and white ; in both seasons having the colours blended, and running softly 

 into each other. They appear to moult twice yearly. They are gregarious, 

 being generally met with in small flocks of ten or twelve together. 



This group, although containing only three species, and these apparently 

 very limited in number, is widely distributed, and found in countries differ- 

 ing in the extremes of temperature. They occur in Europe, in South Ame- 

 rica, in North America, extending beyond the Arctic Circle, on the shores 

 of Greenland, and the islands in the Arctic Seas, and in Africa. One species 

 only has yet been found in Great Britain, occasionally visiting our shores, 

 and breeding annually in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. 



