FOOD OF AMERICAN PHALAROPES, AVOCETS, AND STILTS 9 
of their sex, many of which perhaps have been unmated and have 
given no attention that season to the reproduction of their kind. 
Nests are placed in little clumps of grass and are of the simplest 
construction. Four large eggs, handsomely spotted and colored,, 
are deposited on a slight cushion of broken grass stems. The care 
and incubation of these falls entirely to the male. Once the eggs 
are hatched the birds are more retiring than ever. The grasses in 
the marshes have grown steadily since nesting began, increasing the. 
cover, and the young slip about through this as readily as do rails. 
It is rare indeed to capture them. Young and adults in winter 
plumage are nondescript, plain-colored birds, entirely different from 
the old birds in spring. 
Though the Wilson phalaropes often feed while swimming on the 
surface of the water, they are much more frequently seen walking 
about on mud bars than other phalaropes. Since the birds appear to 
range entirely on inland waters, their food shows certain differences 
from that of the related species. In all, 106 stomachs of this bird 
were examined, representing the months from May to September. 
The majority were taken in May, June, and July, and the material 
for August and September is comparatively slight. The stomachs 
at hand were collected throughout the range of the bird in the United 
States, with a small number of specimens from Canada. The animal 
food represented amounts to 93.3 per cent of the total, and the vege- 
table, 6.7 per cent. Gravel was present in many stomachs in fair 
quantity. 
ANIMAL FOOD 
Crustacea. — In the food of the Wilson phalarope, crustaceans 
amount to 3.6 per cent, a much smaller quantity than in the two 
related species. The winter eggs of water fleas (Daphniidse) were 
found 7 times, and the brine shrimp (Artemia fertilis) 4. Large 
flocks of phalaropes frequented the lake front on Great Salt Lake, 
where these tiny shrimps are available in large numbers. Amphipods 
not identified were found in 7 instances. The majority of the 
crustaceans were taken in May. 
Heteroptera. — Aquatic bugs were favored food, forming 24.4 per 
cent of the total. Water-boatmen (Corixidse) were especially sought, 
being found in 36 stomachs, some of which were crammed with them. 
Back-swimmers (Notonectidse) were found 5 times, and shore bugs 
(Salda) 5 times, picked up as they ran about on the mud. Other 
bug remains not further identified were found in 4 instances. Al- 
though heteropterans made nearly one-fourth of the food, the groups 
represented were very few in number. The number of water-boatmen 
secured, insects which frequently are found in great abundance in 
the shallow waters of ponds and marshes, is worthy of attention. 
Coleoptera. — Beetles are found in much greater variety than the- 
true bugs, and in number of species replace the crustaceans taken by 
other phalaropes. They amount to 20.1 per cent. Ground beetles- 
(Carabidse) were found i3 times; among these a group of small shore- 
haunting species (Bemhidion) was represented in 7 instances. Crawl- 
ing water-beetles (Haliplidse) were noted 15 times, and predacious, 
diving beetles (Dytiscidae) 34, in 8 cases being larval individuals;. 
Water-scavenger beetles were also commonly represented, having 
been taken by 33 birds, in 6 cases in the larval state. The propor- 
52519— 25f— 2 
