THE RED PHALAROPE. 293 



and a quarter by seven-eighths; their ground colour is dull greenish-yellow, 

 irregularly blotched and dotted with reddish-brown. 



Red Phalarope, Phalaropus hyperboreus, Wils. Araer. Orn., vol. ix. p. 75. 



Phalaropds fulicarius, Bonap. Syn., p. 341. 



Phalaropus fulicarius, Flat-billed Phalarope, Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. 



ii. p. 407. 

 Red Phalarope, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 236. 

 Red Phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius , Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iii. p. 404. 



Adult, 7-} 2 , 13. 



Occasionally in flocks in Kentucky, on the Ohio, during autumn often at 

 sea on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Breeds in high northern lati- 

 tudes, as far as Melville Peninsula. Stragglers at times reach as far south as 

 New Jersey, but the route of this species toward warmer regions is along 

 the Pacific coast. 



Adult Male in summer. 



Bill scarcely longer than the head, straight, slender, nearly cylindrical, 

 towards the end broader and flattened, the tip narrow. Upper mandible 

 with the dorsal line straight, excepting at the end, where it is a little curved, 

 the ridge convex, flattened at the broad part, the sides slightly sloping, the 

 edges rounded, and near the slightly curved obtuse tip inflected. Nasal 

 groove linear, extending to near the tip; nostrils basal, linear-elliptical. 

 Lower mandible with the angle very long and narrow, the sides convex, the 

 tip narrowed, obtuse. 



Head small, with the fore part high and rounded; eyes small. Neck of 

 moderate length. Body rather full. Feet rather short, slender; tibia bare a 

 short way above the joint; tarsus much compressed, narrowed before and 

 behind, covered anteriorly with numerous scutella; toes very slender, first 

 extremely small, free, with a slight membrane beneath; second shorter than 

 third, which is a little longer; all scutellate above, the anterior margined on 

 both sides with lobed and pectinated membranes, which are united at the 

 base, so as to render the foot nearly half-webbed, the outer web much longer 

 than the inner. Claws very small, compressed, arched, obtuse, that of the 

 middle toe with an inner sharp edge. 



Plumage soft and slender, the feathers on the back and wings somewhat 

 distinct. Wings long and pointed; primary quills tapering, but rounded, 

 the first longest, the second a little shorter, the rest rapidly graduated; 

 secondary quills rather short, obliquely truncate, the inner tapering and 

 elongated, so as nearly to equal the longest primaries when the wing is 

 closed. Tail of moderate length, much rounded, of twelve feathers. 



Bill greenish-yellow, black at the point. Iris brown. Feet pale greyish- 



Vol. V. 41 



