THE RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. 
199 
Range in Great Britain.— The Red-neched Phalarope breeds 
sparitiBly in the Shetlands and Orkney Islands, and in the 
Outer Hebrides ; but the demand for British-taken eggs has 
sadly diminished the numbers of those which nest within this 
limited area. In other parts of Great Britain the species is 
only procured as a migrant, occurring chiefly in the autumn. 
Only one occurrence in Ireland has been recorded, namely, 
in Armagh in November, 1891. 
Range outside the British Islands.— Although a circmn-polar bird, 
like its ally, the Grey Phalarope, the present species has a more 
southern breeding-range than that species. It nests in the Arctic 
Remons of America from Alaska to Southern Grcetdand, and 
thence from Iceland and the Faeroe Islands to Northern Scan- 
dinavia, and eastwards as far as Kamtchatka. In winter it goes 
south as far as the Malayan Archipelago, passing by China 
and Japan, and occurring at the same time on the shores ot 
the Indian Ocean. , • , ■ 
Hahits — An excellent account of the habits of this bird is 
given by Mr. Nelson. Speaking cf the birds in Alaska, he ob- 
serves’ “As summer approaches on the arctic shores and coast 
of Bering Sea, the numberless pools, until now hidden under 
a snowy covering, become bordered or covered by water; the 
mud about their edges begins to soften, and through the water 
the melting ice in the bottom looks pale green. The Ducks and 
Geese fill the air with their loud resounding cries, and the rapid 
win^-strokes of arriving and departing flocks add a heavy bass 
to the chorus which greets the opening of another glad season 
in the wilds of the cheerless north. Amidst this loud-tongued 
multitude suddenly appears the peaceful fairydike form of the 
Northern Phalarope. Perhaps, as the hunter sits by the border 
of a secluded pool, still half-covered with snow and ice, a pair 
of slight wings flit before him, and there, riding on the water, 
scarcely making a ripple, floats this charming and elegant bird. 
It glides hither and thither on the water, apparently drifted by 
its fancy and skims about the pool like an autumn leaf wafted 
before the playful zephyrs on some embosomed lakelet m the 
forest. The delicate tints and slender fragile form, combining 
-^race'of colour and outline with a peculiarly dainty elegance 
of motion, render this the most lovely and attractive among its 
handsome congeners. 
