PHALAROPES 
239 
With some species (e. g., Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers) there is 
no postjuvenal molt, the postjuvenal plumage being also the first 
winter plumage. The larger number, however, acquire a winter plumage 
by postjuvenal molt during the fall migration. At the postnuptial 
molt, which often occurs during migration, the adults assume a plumage 
similar to the first winter plumage of the immature bird, when, as a rule, 
old and young birds, males and females, are alike in color. The spring 
or prenuptial molt often begins in January or February, which involves 
all the body feathers, and, in some cases, also the wings and tail (see 
Dwight). 
1888. Seebohm, H., Distribution of the Family Charadriidse, 4to, pp. 524, 
plls. 21. — 1895. Elliot, D. G., North American Shore Birds, 8vo, pp. 268; 
plls. 74 (Francis Harper). — 1897. Cory, C. B., How to Know the Shore 
Birds, 8vo, pp. 89; many ills. — 1900. Dwight, J., Jr., The Moult of 
the North American Shore Birds, Auk, XVII, 368-385. — 1903. Hunt- 
ington, D. W., Our Feathered Game, 8vo, pp. 396, plls. 37. — 1903. 
Sanford, L. C., Bishop, L. B., Van Dyke, T. S., The Water-Fowl Family, 
12mo, pp. ix + 598, plls. 20 (Macmillan). — 1905. Job, H. K., Wild Wings, 
203-255. (Houghton, Mifflin.) — 1905. Clark, A. H., Migrations of Certain 
Shore Birds, Auk, XXII, 134-140. — 1907. Rich, W. H., Feathered Game of 
the Northeast, 8vo, pp. 432, plls. 87. — 1910. Cooke, W. W., Distribution 
and Migration of North American Shore Birds, Bull. 35, Biol. Surv. U. S. 
Dept. Agr., plls. 4, pp. 100. 
24. Family Phalaropodid^e. Phalaropes. (Fig. 43a.) 
There are three known members of this family: one is confined to 
the interior of North America, the other two may be called Sea Snipe, 
and are found in the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. The 
lobate feet of these pelagic species enable them to swim with ease, and 
during their migrations they may be found in flocks resting upon the 
sea, far from land. After nesting, their presence on land is largely depend- 
ent upon the weather, severe storms sometimes bringing them to our 
coasts in numbers. Contrary to the usual rule, the female in this family 
is the larger and more brightly colored — indeed, in the domestic economy 
of the Phalarope household, the female is male, except in the prime 
essentials of sex. She does the wooing, takes the lead in selecting the 
nesting-site, and, although she lays the eggs, the duties of incubation 
fall upon the male. 
1908. Chapman, F. M., Camps and Cruises, 268-271; 321, 322. 
KEY TO THE SPECIES 
A. Bill over 1T0 . . . 224. Wilson’s Phalarope. 
B. Bill under 1’10. 
a. Bill very slender; wing under 4*75 . . 223. Northern Phalarope. 
5. Bill stout; wing over 4*75 ....... 222. Red Phalarope. 
222. Phalaropus fulicarius {Linn.). Red Phalarope. Toes webbed 
at base and with scalloped lobes terminally; bill heavy, wider than deep. 
Ad. $ in summer . — Crown and chin fuscous; cheeks white; back black, the 
feathers bordered with cream-buff; wings gray; some of the secondaries and 
