AG4 BIRDS—PHALAROPODIDA. 
or pale brownish-olive, blotched all over with spots and splashes of brown and blackish- 
brown, of irregular size and shape.” 
FAMILY PHALAROPODIDA. PHALAROPES. 
General characters of Scolopacide. Body depressed; the under plumage thickened 
and duck-like. Toes lobate. Tarsi compressed. , Habits natatorial. 
GENUS STEGANOPUS. Vieillot, 
Membranes of toes straight-edged; bill very slender, awl-shaped, longer than the. 
head. 
STEGANOPUS WILSONI (Sab.) Cs. 
Wiilson’s Phalarope. 
Phalaropus wilsoni, KIRTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Rep., 1838, 165, 185—-WHaTon, Ohio Agric. 
Rep. for 1860, 368, 377; Reprint, 1861, 10, 19. 
Steganopus wilsontt, WHEATON, Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 572; Re- 
print, 1875, 12. 
Steganopus wilsont, LANGDON, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 12; Revised List, Journ. Cin. Soc. 
Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 188; Reprint, 22. 
Wilson’s Phalarope, KIRTLAND, Fam. Visitor, i, 1850, 164. 
Phalaropus wilsont, SABINE, App. Franklin’s Journ., 1823, 691. 
Steganopus wilscni, Couzs, Ibis, Apl., 1865. 
Adult ashy; upper tail-coverts and under parts white; a black stripe from the eye | 
down the side of the neck spreading into rich purplish-chestnut, which also variegates 
the back and shades the throat; young lacking these last colors. Length, 9-10; wing, 
5; tail, 2; bill, tarsus and middle toe, each over 1, black. 
‘ Habitat, United States and British Provinces, generally. North to the Saskatchewan. 
Rare or casualin the Eastern United States. Common in the Mississppi Valley aud 
westward. Breeds in Western United States and in the interior of the for countries in 
the lower latitudes. Mexico, Central and South America, in winter. 
Not common spring and fall migrant. Probably breeds in North- 
western Ohia- Dr. Kirtland notes the visit of a flock to Mill Creek, 
in Trumbull county. It is reported by Mr. Winslow ag having been re- 
peatedly taken in the vicinity of Cleveland. It is not included in Mr. 
Langdon’s last list, though I have been informed that it has been taken 
in the vicinity of Cincinnati. Ihave never seen itin this vicinity. It 
ig a common summer resident in Northern Indiana (Brayton), abun- 
dant in Northern I]linois, and undoubtedly is a not uncommon resident 
throughout the summer in some localities in Northwestern Ohio. 
To Mr. E. W. Wilson, we are indebted for the most complete biography 
of this bird yet written. *I quote from his paper ‘ia Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 
ii, 1877, 58: 
‘‘Tn Northern Illinois, where the following observations were made, Wilson’s Phalarope 
is the most common summer resident, occurring about grassy marshes and low prairies. 
