The Red Phalarope 



Taken in Merced County 



the first three operations 

 follow in automatic se- 

 quence as the result of 

 one volition, we have at 

 least four volitions for 

 each cycle, — twenty per 

 second — rather rapid 

 thinking! "The birds 

 are fast livers, and they 

 void the cloaca at inter- 

 vals of two or three min- 

 utes, roughly guessed. 

 The excreta are chiefly 

 vivid rose red with an 

 attendant portion of 

 pure white — the same 

 in color, by the way, as 

 that cast by the Murres 

 on the east wall of Shu- 

 brick point. 



"As I said, these 

 birds will do anything 

 for me. By stealthy ap- 

 proach and good behav- 

 ior I have won their 

 complete confidence, 

 taking all the pictures 

 wanted at focal length, 

 the birds passing repeat- 

 edly within that distance as the camera is pointed diagonally down 

 at them. After using up my plates I lay down by the water's edge, 

 and the birds repeatedly came nearer to my face than my hands were. 

 Also when I stretched my hand out slowly into the water, they came 

 within a foot of it, and, once, within six inches. And yet they are per- 

 fectly cognizant of the birdman's presence, and give a little start or 

 warning peep every time an unusual movement occurs, or the slightest 

 sound escapes me." 



We are told that these birds breed in immense numbers within the 

 Arctic Circle, and that they are invariably found among those breeding 

 farthest north. Their presence, also, is characteristic of open water any- 

 where in the Arctic Ocean ; and it is hailed with delight by whalers as being 

 a good indication of the near presence of some large cetacean, especially of 



fi/6 



Photo by the Author 



SPRING CLOTHES 



NORTHERN PHALAROPE IN BREEDING PLUMAGE 



