406 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



tinguish its colours, its buoyant pose upon the water left no 

 doubt in our minds of its identity. Early next morning we were 

 at the pool, and found the little wanderer swimming within a 

 few yards of the bank. Although we approached it quite openly, 

 the bird made no effort to elude us; in fact, it hardly seemed to 

 notice our presence. So lightly did the bird rest upon the water 

 that it looked as if a breath of wind would pick it up and blow 

 it away ; yet, though it generally swam head to wind against a 

 stiff breeze, it appeared to experience no inconvenience when 

 swimming in the opposite direction. The bird was busily 

 feeding — dipping its beak constantly in the water, and now and 

 then uttering a soft " peep peep." After we had watched the 

 Phalarope for some time, as it swam with a zigzag course but a 

 few feet from us, we threw a stone into the water near it, for we 

 wished to see it on the wing. The bird rose, hovered for a 

 second a few inches above the water, and then flew off over the 

 grass, somewhat resembling a Ringed Plover in its flight, and 

 distinctly showing its white wing-bars. It was back again in a 

 minute, and recommenced feeding. During the day we visited 

 the pool several times, but we never succeeded in inducing it to 

 fly again ; when disturbed by a splash it simply rose and hovered 

 for a moment, dropping again a yard or so further on. At night- 

 fall the bird was still there, but it had gone by the following 

 morning. 



It was an adult female ; the rich fox-red of the neck con- 

 trasting sharply with the pure white chin and under parts and 

 the dark grey of the upper breast. The clearly denned white 

 spot immediately above the eye was distinctly noticeable at a 

 distance of some yards.* 



Between Penmon Point and Eedwharf Bay the limestone 

 cliffs rise to a considerable height, affording nesting ledges, in 

 places, for many rock-haunting birds. At one spot there was a 



* This spot appears to have escaped the notice of many ornithologists, 

 whose descriptions have been compiled from the examination of dried skins. 

 The spot is not shown in the figures of the bird in Dresser's ' Birds of 

 Europe,' and Lilford's ' Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Islands,' 

 although it is undoubtedly present in the skins from which the figures were 

 drawn. We have examined these skins in the Dresser Collection at Owens 

 College, Manchester, and found that, owing to the contraction of the skin 

 over the orbit, the spot is practically obliterated in dried specimens. 



