84 
PHALAROPES 
According to Goss they feed on aquatic insects, snails, tender water 
plants, buds, blossoms, and seeds. Mr. Evermann has found them 
feeding largely on wild celery. In the north they gather by thorn 
sands in the rice lakes in fall and stay until driven south by cold 
weather, feeding on the rich grain as it falls, or is scattered out by 
their wings, and becoming excessively fat. Vernon Bailey. 
ORDER LIMICOL^E : SHORE BIRDS. 
(Families Phalaropodid^, Recurvirostrule, Scolopa- 
ciDiEj Charadriid^:, Aphrizid^e, H^matopodid^:, and 
Jacanule.) 
FAMILY PHALAROPODIDiE: PHALAROPES. 
KEY TO GENERA. 
1. Bill wide and flattened, toes half webbed and with scalloped 
margins. Crymophilus, p. 84. 
Fj 98 1'. Bill slender and approximately cylindrical. 
’ 2. Bill much longer than head, toes webbed at base, with 
straight margins ....... Steganopus, p. 85. 
2'. Bill not longer than head, toes nearly half webbed, and with 
slightly scalloped margins . . . Phalaropus, p. 84. 
GENUS CRYMOPHILUS. 
222. Crymophilus fulicarius (Linn.). Red Phalarope. 
Bill about as long as head, flat, widest toward end. Adult male in sum¬ 
mer : back streaked with black and buff; 
wing bluish and dusky, crossed by a white 
band; side of head whitish ; under parts 
dark cinnamon brown. Adult female in 
summer: crown and face plumbeous or 
blackish, sides of head pure white. Adults 
in winter: head, neck, and under parts pure white, except for plumbeous 
on back of head and around eyes ; upper parts plain blue gray. Young: 
upper parts blackish, the feathers edged with yellowish ; under parts 
whitish, with dusky brown across breast. Length: 7.50-8.75, wing 5.25- 
5.50, bill .80-95. 
Distribution. — Northern part of northern hemisphere, breeding in arctic 
regions. In America south in winter to the middle of the United States 
and along the Pacific coast to Cape St. Lucas; straggling to the Carolinas. 
Nest. — A slight depression in damp ground, usually without lining. 
Eggs: 3 to 4, heavily spotted with brown. 
GENUS PHALAROPUS. 
Subgenus Phalaropus. 
223. Phalaropus lobatus (Linn.). Northern Phalarope. 
Bill about as long as head, very slender and sharp; margins of toes 
Fig. 99. 
