The Red Phalarope 
feet into the air and shakes himself 
thoroughly. Interesting as were 
these evolutions at the tide line, they 
were soon to be surpassed by experi¬ 
ence ashore—as witness the note¬ 
book: “Oh, bring me a new diction¬ 
ary! At least a dozen fresh-minted 
words I require, caressives, diminu¬ 
tives, and felicitatives. Four Arctic 
emigrants ticketed for waters in and 
about the North Pole have adopted 
me for their god, and there is nothing 
they will not do for 'me save keep 
outside the focal length (about 
feet) of my camera. Three Red 
Phalaropes, all female I take it, 
although none of them in highest 
plumage, and one Northern, also a 
female, just under ‘high,’ are pas¬ 
turing at my feet in a brackish pool 
some 20 feet long, io feet wide and 
2 deep. The waters of the pool 
teem with a minute reddish crus¬ 
tacean (?) shaped like an ant, less 
than a 32nd of an inch in length and 
incredibly nimble. The insects pro¬ 
gress by leaps, and are visible only at 
the moment of arrival. Yet these 
birds gobble them up one at a time 
with unerring accuracy and with a 
rapidity which is nothing short of 
marvelous. The Reds work habitu¬ 
ally at the rate of five dabs per 
second, i. e., 300 a minute, while the 
Northern, with a longer beak and a 
much daintier motion, works only 
half as fast.” If we pause to analyze 
the set of motions, or “reactions,” 
involved in this performance, we find 
for each the following order: Kick, 
whirl, stop, select, strike (that is, 
secure prey), swallow. Allowing that 
Taken in Santa Barbara Photo by the Author 
FULL SAIL 
THE SUBJECT IS A NORTHERN PHALAROPE, AND THE MOMENT 
IS THAT JUST AFTER ALIGHTING BEFORE THE “ SAILS” 
HAVE BEEN HAULED IN 
