334 
PRiECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOL^E. 
and sand. This species is infrequent in the middle district, and is rarely seen south 
of New York. Giraud states, on the authority of Professor Baird, that examples of 
this Phalarope have twice been taken near Carlisle, Pa. 
Specimens of this Phalarope are occasionally taken near Boston, as well as on 
various other portions of the New England coast; but it does not appear to be com- 
mon on or near the land. It also occurs as an irregular and infrequent migrant, both 
in spring and fall, near Lake Koskonong. 
A small flock of these birds was seen on the west coast of Greenland, in latitude 
71°, in June, on Parry’s first voyage ; and Ross, in the Appendix to the “Third Voy- 
age,” mentions that a small Rock alighted under the lee of the ship during a strong 
breeze, and were so fearless as to approach within a few yards, feeding on small 
shrimps, which were seen in great numbers. At that time the ship was at least sixty 
miles from the nearest land. These birds were afterward found breeding on the 
Whaleflsh Islands ; but none were seen after leaving Greenland. 
According to the observations of Mr. L. Kumlien, this species arrives in Cumber- 
land in June in large flocks, but is not so common as fulicarius ; and he states that 
he has seen the lobatus as far south and farther north, and nearly as far from 
land as that species ; but this is true only of a few individuals. It seems more fond 
of the shore, breeding plentifully on the islands in Disco Bay. It is less grega- 
rious than fulicarius, and prefers small bays to the open sea. This bird alights on 
the drift-ice, and feeds by jumping -into the water after food, where the fulicarius 
would have alighted in the water in the first place. 
Prom the denuded condition of the breasts of the males of this species which have 
been taken during the breeding-season, there is good reason to believe that, like the 
Wilson’s Phalarope, the males of this species do their full share of the labors of 
incubation. 
Mr. Elliott found a few stray couples breeding upon the Prybilof Islands, nesting 
around the margins of the ponds ; and he secured several newly hatched young birds, 
which were very pretty and interesting. The down of the head, neck, and upper 
parts is a rich brownish yellow, variegated with brownish black, the crown being of 
this color mixed with yellow, with a long stripe extending down the back, flanked 
with one over each hip, another across the rump, and a shoulder-spot on each side. 
The under parts are grayish silvery white. When startled or solicitous for the safety 
of its young, the parent bird utters a succession of sonorous tiveets, quickly repeated, 
with long intervals of silence. 
Mr. Audubon, who found birds of this species quite numerous in the Bay of Fundy, 
and afterward met with them in Labrador, regarded them as being somewhat shy. 
They procured their food on the water, on which they alight like Ducks, and float 
with all the buoyancy of a Gull. They walk about upon masses of floating seaweed 
as unconcernedly as if on land. Their notes are said to resemble the syllables tweet- 
tweet-tweet, and are sharp and clear. Their flight is like that of the Common Snipe. 
At the approach of an enemy they close up their ranks and fly in a body, so that num- 
bers may be killed at one shot. Audubon has met with these birds in large flocks at 
a distance of more than a hundred miles from land. 
In Labrador this Phalarope occurred only in small parties of a few pair, and were 
always in the immediate vicinity of fresh-water ponds, near which they breed. Their 
nest is described as a hollow scooped out among the herbage, lined with a few bits of 
dry grass and moss. The eggs were always four, are said to average 1.19 inches by 
.88, to be pointed at the smaller end, and with the ground-color of a deep dull buff, 
irregularly marked with blotches of a dark reddish brown. The birds showed great 
