BROWN PHALAROPE. 
131 
pale ferruginous; back part of the neck, deep ferru- 
ginous, which descends on each side, and mingies with 
the plumage of the back and scapulars, which are of 
a clove brown, the feathers tipt with whitish ; wings 
and tail, dark clove brown, some of the lesser coverts 
having a reddish tinge ; the upper tail-feathers, tinged 
with red at their tips, the under feathers, 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 six- 
teenths 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 
quarters ; 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 phala- 
ropes constitute one of the links between the waders 
and the web-footed tribes, having the form of the sand- 
pipers, with some of the habits of the gulls ; the scal- 
loped 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 com- 
monly seen in pairs, and are so extremely tame and 
unsuspicious, that one may approach to within a few 
feet of them. 
The genus lobipes of the Baron Cuvier is founded 
upon this species ; and it must be confessed that its 
characters are sufficiently distinct from those of the 
bird which follows, to authorize 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 
