132 
PHALAROPUS WILSONII. 
iii the generic characters, which Temminck, in his 
Manuel , has not sufficiently observed. 
In the Appendix to Montague’s Supplement to the 
Ornithological Dictionary, we find the following re- 
marks on this species, there named fulicaria: — “ We 
have before mentioned that this bird had been observed 
in the Orkneys in considerable abundance in the summer, 
and that no doubts were entertained of its breeding 
there, although the nest had not been found. To Mr 
Bullock, therefore, we are indebted for the farther 
elucidation of the natural history of this elegant little 
bird. In a letter to the author, this gentleman says, j 
‘ I found the red phalarope common in the marshes of jj 
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 report of a 
gun. It lays four eggs, of the shape of that of a snipe, 
but much less, of an olive colour, blotched with dusky. 
It swims with the greatest ease, and, when on the water, 
looks like a beautiful miniature of a duck, carrying its 
head close to the back, in the manner of a teal.’ Mr 
Bullock farther observes, £ That the plumage of the 
female is much lighter, and has less of the rufous than 
the other sex,’ ” 
SUBGENUS II. — LOBIPES , CUVIER. 
242 . PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS , WILSON. GRAY PHALAROPE. * 
WILSON, PLATE LXXIII. FIG. IV. 
Bill, pretty stout and wide, slightly compressed at 
dhe tip, depressed on the lower half ; upper mandible, 
carinate ; nostrils, subovate, a short distance from the 
base ; feet, semipalmate, lobes of the toes, broad and 
greatly scalloped, hind toe, barely touching the ground. 
Bill, reddish orange at the base, the remainder black, an 
* Named in the plate, Red Phalarope. 
