The Red Phalarope 



feet into the air and shakes himself 

 thoroughly. Interesting as were 

 these evolutions at the tide line, they 

 were soon to be surpassed by experi- 

 ence ashore — as witness the note- 

 book: "Oh, bring me a new diction- 

 ary! At least a dozen fresh-minted 

 words I require, caressives, diminu- 

 tives, and felicitatives. Four Arctic 

 emigrants ticketed for waters in and 

 about the North Pole have adopted 

 me for their god, and there is nothing 

 they will not do for me save keep 

 outside the focal length (about 2}4 

 feet) of my camera. Three Red 

 Phalaropes, all female I take it, 

 although none of them in highest 

 plumage, and one Northern, also a 

 female, just under 'high,' are pas- 

 turing at my feet in a brackish pool 

 some 20 feet long, 10 feet wide and 

 2 deep. The waters of the pool 

 teem with a minute reddish crus- 

 tacean (?) shaped like an ant, less 

 than a 32nd of an inch in length and 

 incredibly nimble. The insects pro- 

 gress by leaps, and are visible only at 

 the moment of arrival. Yet these 

 birds gobble them up one at a time 

 with unerring accuracy and with a 

 rapidity which is nothing short of 

 marvelous. The Reds work habitu- 

 ally at the rate of five dabs per 

 second, i. e., 300 a minute, while the 

 Northern, with a longer beak and a 

 much daintier motion, works only 

 half as fast." If we pause to analyze 

 the set of motions, or "reactions," 

 involved in this performance, we find 

 for each the following order: Kick, 

 whirl, stop, select, strike (that is, 

 secure prey), swallow. Allowing that 



Taken in Santa Barbara 



Photo by the A uthor 



FULL SAIL 



THE SUBJECT IS A NORTHERN PHALAROPE, AND THE MOMENT 

 IS THAT JUST AFTER ALIGHTING BEFORE THE "SAILS" 

 HAVE BEEN HAULED IN r rr? r* 



JI /5 



