BROWN PHALAROPE. 
235 
Bill black, one inch and three eighths in length ; head above 
of an ash gray; hind-head whitish, which colour extends a short 
distance down the neck ; over the eyes a white stripe, below them 
a white spot ; throat and lower parts white ; a line of black passes 
through the eyes, spreads out towards the hind-head, and descends 
along the neck ; lower part of the neck pale ferruginous ; back part 
of the neck deep ferruginous, which descends on each side, and 
mingles with the plumage of the back and scapulars, which arc of 
a clove brown, the feathers tipt with whitish ; wings and tail dai-k 
clove brown, some of the lesser coverts having a reddish tinge ; 
the upper tail feathers tinged with red at their tips, the under fea- 
thers marked with white on their inner webs ; irides dark brown ; 
legs and feet dark plumbeous ; claws long, of a dark horn colour ; 
hind toe, independent of the claw, five sixteenths of an inch long; 
the tertials, when the wing is closed, extend to within three eighths 
of an inch of the tip of the primaries ; weight an ounce and three 
quartei's ; length nine inches and a half, breadth sixteen inches. 
This was a female, her eggs very small. 
In the grand chain of animated nature, the Phalaropes consti- 
tute one of the links between the waders and the web-footed tribes, 
having the form of the Sandpipers with some of the habits of the 
gulls : the scalloped membranes on their toes enabling them to swim 
with facility. They are clothed with a thick coat of feathers, beneath 
which, as in the Ducks, lies a mass of down, to protect them from 
the rigours of the northern climates, of which they are natives. 
They do not appear to be fond of the neighbourhood of the ocean, 
and are generally found in the interior, about the lakes, ponds, 
and streams of fresh water, where they delight to linger, swimming 
near the margin in search of seeds and insects. 
They are no where numerous, are commonly seen in pairs, 
and are so extremely tame and unsuspicious that one may approach 
to within a few feet of them. 
