214 
CHARADRIIFORMES 
223. Northern Phalarope. le phalarope a petit beg. Lobipes lobatus. L, 
7 -75. Adult female (Figure 309c) : above, very dark grey, almost black, including head 
and face, and extending almost across the breast, Below and a sharply defined 
throat patch, white. Sides of neck, brick-red and a line of reddish ochre down back over 
each wing. Male (Figure 309b): similar, but colours less pure and pattern less definite. 
Autumn birds (Figure 309a) largely white. Adult: back, striped grey and white. Juvenile: 
sooty and ochre. Both — with white throat and face and dark cap, and bar through eye black. 
Distinctions. Colours as above are quite 
distinctive. The smallest of the phalaropes. 
Bill fine and awl-like (Figure 309d), similar 
to that of Wilson’s, but shorter, and quite 
different from the broad bill of the Red 
Phalarope. Toes with scalloped half-webs, 
like the Red (See Figure 306d), not a narrow, 
even border, with slight webs, as in Wilson’s 
(Compare Figure 308). 
Field Marks . Swimming habits and 
whirligig action as a phalarope. Small size. 
Distinguished from the Red Phalarope in 
spring by white throat and underparts and 
in autumn by dark line through eye and 
white superciliary line. When the colours 
are not very evident, probably difficult to 
separate in life from Wilson’s except by 
smaller size. 
Distribution. Northern and southern 
hemispheres. In America, breeds on the 
Arctic mainland and islands across the continent. Migrates down both seacoasts and 
through the prairie interior. Common in the interior of British Columbia. Less so through 
Ontario and interior Quebec. Not quite such a maritime bird as the Red Phalarope, but 
more so than Wilson’s. 
Figure 309 
Northern Phalarope; natural size. 
a, winter; b, summer male; 
c, summer female; d, bill, from above. 
Suborder — Lari. Long-Winged Swimmers 
General Description. The Long-winged Swimmers are sea birds, with four toes and 
two webs, and with the closed wings projecting beyond the tail, if the excessively length- 
ened middle tail feather of some Jaegers and the equally elongated outer swallow-tails of 
some Terns are disregarded. 
Bills of Long- winged Swimmers 
Skua and Jaeger Gull Tern 
Distinctions. Can be recognized as an Order by their long wings and bill characters 
(Figure 310). They are separated from the Tube-nosed Swimmers by the position of the 
nostrils which are in the sides of the bill and not in a tube on top (See Figures 83 to 88. 
pages 46 to 49, for comparison), and from the Cormorants by the presence of nostrils 
and the completely feathered faces and throats (See Figures 94 to 97, pages 56 to 58). 
Field Marks. No field marks can be given covering the order except length of wing 
and mode of flight. 
Nesting. Usually breed on the ground or on cliff ledges, but there is little uniformity 
in their nesting habits. 
Distribution. Some species are more or less common over all the waterways of Canada. 
The Long-winged Swimmers are wonderful fliers, being both tireless 
and agile on the wing. In habit they are fishers, scavengers, or pirates. 
There are only two families of the order in Canada; the Jaegers Stercora- 
riidae and the gulls Laridae, the latter including the closely allied terns 
or “Sea Swallows.” 
