GREY PHALAROPE. 95 
base, the remainder black, an inch long; front and crown, 
black, barred transversely with lines of white ; throat, sides of 
the neck, and lower parts, white, thickly and irregularly barred 
with curving dashes of reddish chocolate ; upper parts, of a 
deep cinereous blue, streaked with brownish yellow and black ; 
the back scapulars, broadly edged with brownish yellow; wings 
and rump, dark cinereous ; greater wing-coverts, broadly tipt 
with white, forming a large band; primaries, nearly black, 
and crossed with white below their coverts ; tail, plain olive, 
middle of its coverts, black, their sides bright brownish yellow; 
vent, white, those feathers immediately next to the tail, red- 
dish chocolate; legs, black on the outside, yellowish within, 
Length, nine inches; breadth, fifteen inches and a half; length 
of hind toe, independent of the claw, one-eighth of an inch. 
Male. The inner toe is connected to the middle one by a 
membrane as far as the first joint, the outer toe much farther ; 
hence the feet may be properly termed semipalmate; webs and 
lobes, finely pectinated. This conformation of the feet is pretty 
accurately exhibited in Edwards’s plate, No. 308. The grey 
phalarope is a rare bird in Pennsylvania, and is not often met 
with in any part of the United States. The individual from 
which our description was taken was shot in a pond, in the 
vicinity of Philadelphia, in the latter part of May 1812. There 
were three in company. The person who shot it had never 
seen one of the species before, and was struck with their sin- 
gular manners. He described them as swimming actively near 
the margin of the pond, dipping in their bill very often, as if 
feeding, and turning frequently. In consequence of our speci- 
men being in a state of putridity when received, it was pre- 
served with considerable difficulty, and the sex could not be 
ascertained. 
In the spring of the year 1816, my friend Mr Le Sueur 
shot, in Boston Bay, a young individual of this species. Crown, 
dark slate, tinged with yellowish brown; front, throat, line 
over the eye, belly, and vent, white; shoulders, breast, and 
sides, tawny or fawn colour; back, dark slate, paler near the 
