194 
BROWN PHALAROPE. 
In the grand chain of animated nature, the phalaropes con- 
stitute 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 en- 
abling 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 nowhere nu- 
merous, are commonly seen in pairs, and are so extremely tame 
and unsuspicious, that one may approach to within a few feet 
of them. 
The genus Lohipes of the Baron Cuvier is founded upon this 
species ; and it must be confessed that its characters are suffi- 
ciently distinct from those of the bird which follows, to autho- 
rize such a separation ; but unless some new species should be 
discovered, we see no impropriety in associating the two birds 
already known, taking care, however, to preserve a consistency 
in the generic characters, which Temminck, in his Manuel, has 
not sufficiently observed. 
In the Appendix to Montagu’s Supplement to the Ornitho- 
logical Dictionary, we find the following remarks on this spe- 
cies, there named “ We have before mentioned, 
that this bird had been observed in the Orkneys in consider- 
able abundance in the summer, and that no doubts were en- 
tertained of its breeding there, although the nest had not been 
found. To Mr Bullock, therefore, we are indebted for the far- 
ther elucidation of the natural history of this elegant little bird. 
In a letter to the author, this gentleman says, ^ I found the red 
phalarope common in the marshes of Sanda and Westra, in 
the breeding season, but which it leaves in the autumn. This 
bird is so extremely tame, that I killed nine without moving 
out of the same spot, being not in the least alarmed at the re- 
