THE RED PHALAROPE. 
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airbed, obtuse. Plumage soft and blended ; wings long and pointed, first 
quill longest, secondary quills rather short, the inner much elongated. Tail 
of moderate length, much rounded, of twelve feathers, the lower tail-coverts 
as long. 
THE RED PHALAROPE. 
Phalaropus fulicarius, Bonap . 
PLATE CCCXXXIX. — Adult Male and Female in Summer, and Adult in Winter. 
My first drawing of the Red Phalarope was made at Louisville in Ken- 
tucky, a few weeks after my removal to that place, in 1808. One afternoon 
while returning from the house of my hospitable friend General Croghan> 
I observed a large flock of birds proceeding along the shores of the Ohio. 
They were quite unknown to me, and therefore extremely anxious I was to 
procure some of them. I therefore ran through the woods until I got ahead 
of them, went to the margin of the river, and concealed myself at some 
distance from them. They swam beautifully, played about, picked up sub- 
stances floating on the water, now dispersed, and again came close together, 
until at length coming opposite to a small sand-bar stretching out from the 
shore to the distance of a few yards, they directed their course towards it, 
and waded out. When just landing, they were so close to each other that I 
could not withstand the temptation, and so levelled my gun, pulled both 
triggers, and saw' that I had made considerable havoc among them. Those 
which had not been touched, flew off in a compact body, while the birds that 
had been but slightly wounded made for the water, and swam away so fast 
that they seemed to be running on the surface. I picked up seventeen, 
which I found so beautiful and withal so plump, that I felt quite delighted, 
and resolved to shoot as many more as I could. But I did not succeed in 
killing more than other five that day. 
I had never until then seen a Phalarope of any kind, although I had in- 
spected some shocking figures of these elegant birds, figures so unlike the 
originals that even with the aid of a name printed beneath, you could not 
recognise them. Such of my acquaintances at Louisville as had been accus- 
