intended doing with so many, he replied, “They make capital pics ! ” I could have killed any number, hut 
contented myself with obtaining sufficient to supply my numerous ornithological friends. This great flight 
appeared in October, and many of the old birds retained traces of the plumage of the preceding summer. 
The first time a great number of Phalaropes were observed at Plymouth was about thirty-five years ago, 
Avlien a dead whale was brought into the Sound, to which circumstance their appearance was attributed; but 
as the occurrence took ])lace in autumn, it is probable the whale had nothing to do with it. 
To give all the Instances on record of the capture of this bird in England would be as superfluous as it 
is impossible to say on what ])artlcular day or in which week of the year a living bird may be seen on our 
coast or inland w’aters ; for its appearance is governed by circumstances unknown to us. And, indeed, the 
Grey Phalarope must be regarded as an accidental visitor, as a bird which may perhaps be met wuth at the 
Land’s End, on the coast of Norfolk, on the Thames, the Kibble, or the Humber, or a sheet of water in a 
nobleman’s park, or a large reservoir (like that at Kingsbury in Middlesex), or on a horse-pond by the road- 
side, any day during the seasons of autumn and wdnter. Its appearance in Ireland and Scotland is precisely 
similar, as it also is in all parts of the continent, and all the northern portions of the globe from the latitude 
of the Mediterranean ; further south than this it seldom proceeds, and necessity alone impels it to wander 
thus far from its true home. Rarely, if ever, is it seen in this country in its red or nuptial dress; but traces 
of its assumption have been seen in the few examples killed in spring, and traces of its remains in those 
shot in autumn, as mentioned by Mr. Gatcombe. 
There are two or three circumstances connected with this bird Avhlch are very remarkable. In the first 
place, the female is both larger in size, and in summer is more gaily attired than the male — a difference 
which is shown in the accom|)anying Plate, where the bird figured in the act of flying, represents a female, 
and that on the water a male ; in the next, I am Informed by Professor Steenstrup, of Copenhagen, that the 
duty of incubation appears to be performed by the male only — a circumstance wdiich appears to be confirmed 
by the bare state in which the breasts of specimens of that sex are often found. 'VVe know' that this duty 
is executed by the male Rheas and Emus ; and it is stated that the male Turnlces, which are also smaller 
than the females, hatch the eggs and take charge of the young exclusively ; but that such a habit should 
prevail with the Phalaropes is a singular anomaly. 
Mr. New’ton, in his valuable Notes on the Birds of Iceland, published in Baring-Gould’s ‘ Iceland, its 
Scenes and Sagas,’ says, “This bird has been but seldom observed by strangers in Iceland, yet in 1858 I 
found it was very w'ell known to the natives in the district where Faber had seen it in 1821. On the 21st 
of June in that year he obtained a pair which were swimming in a flock of the commoner species (Jbnbipes 
hyperboreus). The female contained largely developed eggs. On the following day he found a single pair 
near the same locality, but searched in vain for their nest. Finally he met with a family party some miles 
to the eastw'ard. In 1858 I discovered two pairs on a lake in the same district ; but a few days afterwards 
they had disappeared, and they certainly did not remain to breed there that year. Last summer, a friend 
of mine sent me four eggs as those of this bird, which had been taken under his special superintendence. 
Setting aside the excellent authority on which their identification rests, they are so entirely different from 
any other Icelandic bird’s I know, that I can hardly doubt their genuineness.” 
In his notes on the birds in Spitzbergen, Mr. New'ton says, “ Although met w'ith in various localities, from 
the extreme south to the extreme north, and doubtless breeding in many places, the exact spots selected are 
still unknown to us. Dr. Malmgren was as unsuccessful in his first voyage as myself. Last year the 
skipper of a Swedish exploring vessel found a nest with four eggs up the North Fjord of the Sound, at the 
beginning of July. The contents he put in his cap ; but as he was deer-stalking at the time, he forgot the 
treasures he was carrying, and they were all smashed. Later in the month Professor Dimer found a nest, 
W'ith three fresh eggs, in Bell Sound. They lay on the ground, which consisted of small splinters of stone, 
w'ithout any bedding. They are now at Stockholm. Neither of the parent birds was observed near the 
nest. Dr. Malmgren noticed this species as far north as lat. 80'’ 10'. He states it feeds chiefly on a species 
of Nostoc ; but the stomachs of those I dissected on Russo contained many gnats and their larvae. 
“ Mr. Holboell says that it is the latest of all the Greenland birds, and does not arrive till the beginning 
of June, at which time it may be seen in large flocks in Davis Straits. In his voyage to Greenland, in 1835, 
w'hilst shut up in the ice for eighteen days, he saw this bird swimming about among the blocks of ice. In 
South Greenland it is rarely seen, and then only in its migration southward. In North Greenland it is very 
common, and builds its nest there on nearly all the Islands possessing small ponds. Whilst the Red-necked 
Phalarope always resorts to those islands w'hich are w'ithin the fjords, this species as constantly breeds upon 
those only which are outside the coast. In August the young ones are fledged, and in September they are 
seen in company wdtli the old birds, all in their winter clothing, sw'imming about the outermost islands, 
where they seek out the bays, and delight very much in playing about in the broken water.” 
The front figures are of tlie natural size. The jflant is the Ranunculus Jlumitilis. 
