320 
REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS. 
When a colony of the two species is disturbed, they seem to vie with each other in 
the importunity of their attempts to mislead the intruder. Thus it often happens that 
the egg collector will find himself at his wit’s end to determine the precise ownership 
of a clutch of eggs before him in the dozeu or more stilts and avocets which are dying 
about. He has only to exercise a little patience and remain quiet until the excitement 
of the birds has had time to abate somewhat, when pair by pair the strangers will drop 
away till one or two only are left. From these he will soon be able to pick out the 
owners of the particular nest by their more persistent and manifestly greater solicitude. 
The young of both species leave the nest almost immediately upon being hatched, 
and I have several times found them in a condition so weak and helpless that they 
seemed scarcely able to stand, much less walk; suggesting indeed, by their helpless¬ 
ness, the possibility of their having been removed from the nest by the parent birds 
upon the first sign of danger. 
I’HALAROPODIDiE, Phalaropes. 
Steganopus Vieillot. 
S. wilsoni (Sab.). Wilson’s Phalarope. 
Of the three species of phalaropes the present is much the best known, probably 
because of its very general diffusion throughout the interior, and because it breeds 
abundantly with us. 
In the region in question it has been found to be plentiful, both as a spring and fall 
migrant and as a summer resident. 
This phalarope was first noticed about Washoe Lake, Nevada, May 17, and the first 
arrivals from the south probably occur early in this month. By the 23d many had 
paired, and much anxiety was manifested when I approached certain localities in the 
marsh, where, however, I could find no nests. At this date they were probably just 
about ready to lay, and a female, when dissected, was found to contain a well-devel¬ 
oped egg. 
For nesting purposes this bird appears always to prefer the borders of little pools, 
and the grassy, boggy edges of prairie sloughs, to the neighborhood of large bodies of 
water; and in this region one rarely approaches a locality of the nature of those first 
mentioned without being met by one or more-pairs of phalaropes, that come flying to 
meet the visitor with subdued and solicitous notes that clearly betray their anxiety 
to learn the character of his errand. 
As their nests and eggs have often been described, they need not be touched upon 
here. 
Lobipes Cuvier. 
L. hyperboreus (L.). Northern Phalarope. 
Of more common occurrence upon either coast, this phalarope is yet occasionally 
found in our interior during both the spring and fall migrations. Thus the last week 
of May the little ponds and inlets about Washoe Lake were found to contain numerous 
flocks, large and small, all which seemed to be in the greatest possible haste to reach 
points unknown farther to the north. 
The little phalarope unites in itself the characteristics of several families, and seems, 
as it were, a sort of connecting link between them. Thus in it appear the general out¬ 
lines and trimness of form that distinguish the sandpipers, joined to a plumage much 
like a duck’s, while the lobing of the feet appears to be modeled after the plan of the 
coot’s. Its habits express these peculiarities of structure very nicely, for in nimbleness 
it simulates the sandpipers, if, indeed, it does not surpass them ; Vhile very few of rhe 
latter can compare with the lobe-foot in grace and elegance Added to these qualities 
its natatorial powers, when are taken into account its diminutive size and pigmy 
strength, are really of first-class order. 
It is difficult to imagine a more beautiful sight than that, presented by a flock of 
these phalaropes as in their brightly-colored nuptial dress they pass with graceful 
action along the shallows in search of food. In some respects their movements when 
ment from side to side, the body being turned quickly, as on a pivot, and the bill low¬ 
ered into the water with a quick thrust. This action gave each bird the appearance of 
•, . , „ ,, , - ---— appearance 
describing at every movement a full half circle, while the motions of the whole flock 
were so constant, rapid, and uniform that they resembled more the actions of a living 
machine moved by one impulse than a flock of individual birds actuated by separate 
wills. In the manner described they passed in a very few moments over considerable 
space, and I think it likely that these flocks were actually migrating at the time ; at 
all events, the course maintained by them, as long as they were under notice, was a due 
