tufts of grass growing close to the-edge of -the loch; they
were formed of dried grass, and were about the size of that
of a Titlark, but much deepefcu The eggs,.are considerably
smaller than those of the Dunlin, and. beautifully spotted all
ovet-with brown. They had but just commencedifi.aying,
June- IS, as we found“ only from one to two eggs in each
n e st; but we were informed "by uboyHwhom we engaged in
our service, that they»-always lay four,'and .are, called by the
name of Half-web. Mr. During who? .visited Orkney and
Shetland in 1881, 1838, unthJ835, says, “ I never saw this
Mrd in Shetland, but I göfaseveral, in Orkney-; soipetifflaes
«»Ids its nest on- small-green islands SÜ the middlefof.the
lakesj.- -The“^places where I procured "their" eggs;.and found
the birds most numerous, were’ in a small- shee^of water three
Or four miles from the lighthouse ?of Sanda, a lake near iNunse
Gastle in Westra, and at Sandwickj near StromneSs.’tu
” ■ This species has been obtained in 'Norfolk, Yorkshire, and
Northumberland. Passingfover the Scottish foë^ities-already
named, M. Nilsson mentions that the Red-nècked-Phalarope
visits Sweden and Norway/ wltfe^a ■ few renaain. t-ê'ib|éb(b.’on
the margins of fresh-water lakes-jibut. the -greater- p arfe^ihg
«tffhforther north;Rafëiknowfe=fe; visit "LaplanS|l^e,ï*Earoé,
lands, arid7 Iceland«- ■ Mr.-- W. Proctor, Subourator^ofi.. the
Durham University Museum, visited Icelandtiu^tfe summer
of 1887,' and in;söme-UOtes on-the habits^o^birds iseen there,
which w ^ || published .in the Naturalist; mentions, thab'i4 The
Red-necked Phalarope, or Eobefoot,’ ’breeds on little hillocks
among the marshes." * The ne_st is composed-of a . few' s-têrnk
of dried grass. The eggs are four in-number, of an«-oil-green
colour, thickly spotted with black ; in dimensions ?orië-inch
and an eighth long, and two inches three-quarters round, or
about the sizdofthat of-a common Thrush. Thé'young birds
leave the nest as"'soon as hatched.. On the approach to! danger
. the old bird runs among the aquatic herbage, spreading
her wings, and. counterfeiting lameness, for the purpose of
deluding the intruder.; .and after leading the enemy from her
•young, she'takes wing and flies to a great height, at the same
time displaying a peculiar action of the wings ;■ then descending
with great velocity,. and making'Simultaneously a noise
with her wings^f On-her return to her young, she uses a particular
cry for -the ..purpose qf gathering the young" together.
A s ^ o n as she has.;collected them, she covers them with her
wings like the domestic, hen.” A small flock of these birds
s^nirpn tbetwest: coast of Greenland, in latitude 71°, in
June, .on-Sir Edward Parry’s first Arctic- voyage; arid Captain
James Ross, in the Natural History Appendix to the?
third voyage;'mentions that a small flock of these birds alight-
edunder thetlehof the ship, during a strong breeze of wind,
arid werev.so -fearless ofil danger as to approach within a few
yards of her, feeding on “small shrimps, which were seen in
great numbers. At this time, i t ' is observed, 44 we were sixty-
miles from the nearest land. (Dlsco.J? W e found them
jforeedihg at whale fish islands,- but saw no riaore .of them, after
leaving-the coast of Greenland.” Dr. Richardson says this
-'Species* breeds' on' all the Arctic coast of America, and it is
well-known to the naturalists of the United States; but Mr.
Audubon remarks that few individuals' are ever seen to the
konth o f New York.
M~. Temminck* and other authorities on the continent of
Europe, mention that • this bird is obtairied occasionally in
Holland and Germany, but is rare in France, Switzerland,
Provence, and Italy.
The food, as may ^ in f e r r e d from what has been already
stated, consists of small Crustacea, marine insects, worms, &c.
An egg in my owncOllection measures one inch two lines in
' length, by ten lines- in breadth, the ground colour olive,
blotched and streaked over with dark red brown. From the
denuded state of the breast of males obtained during the
e 2