example in the collection of Mr. J. Whitaker, of Rainworth
Lodge, near Mansfield, was killed at Bamsdale, Motts. Its
rare visits can be traced along the east coast of Scotland
from Berwick to the extreme north, and irregularly along the
western side; hut in Ireland, strange to say,'it has not as yet
been recorded. Yet although so scarce*oh migration, it is
said to breed in a few scattered localities in the-counties of
Perth and Inverness ; and also, oh what Mr. Harvie-Brown
considers very insufficient evidence, in Sutherlandshire. In
the Hebrides, especially on the Long Island, as well as in
North and South Uist, a variable number of pairs annually
rear their broods; as some - formerly did in the Orkney
group, until nearly, if not quite extirpated by the greed, of
the collector; and in Shetland a few still find a refuge which
it would be undesirable to betray.
The late J. D. Salmon, who visited Orkney in the summer
of 1881, says of the Bed-necked Phalarope: “ This beautiful
little bird appeared to be very tame; although we shot
twó pairs, those that Were swimming about did-nol^take the
least notice of the report of Jhe g u n ; and they seemed to
be much attach ed ^ ’each’other, for when one'of them flew
to -a. shö.rt distance, the other directly fqllpw^H; and while I
held a female that was wounded in my hand, its mate ca?me
and fluttered before jny face. We w.ere much Ratified in
watching the motion^ of -these elegant Bple nre„ajtures, as
they kept swimming about, and jvere . for eveys dipping their
bills into the water; and. so intent were they upon their
occupation, that they did not take the ^least .noïie^of us,
although within a W'yardg,of them, ^ j^ e jm a l e has not
Jw JSfelf JT&a the. sides'of the* neck and
breast, so^mspicuous in the male.* jL |e r some flttje
difficulty, we, were fortunate^ in finding, their nests,- which
were placed in small tufts of grass growing^close to the Juge
of the-lóchl; they were formed o f, dried grhss^ and ^ere
about the Size of that of a Titlark, but much deeper. The
Mr. .Salmon, probably assumed that the duller-coloured bird was the fbinalc,
for i t is now well-known that in this, as in the preceding spebiéÉ; the female is
b^ih larger and more richly coloured than the inale.
eggs are: cönsiderably smaller than thosuof the Dunlin, and
beautifully Spotted all over with brown. They had hut just
commenced laying, June T3, as we found only from oïïé tó
two''eggs in each nest; but we were informed by a hoy
whom we engaged in our service, that they always lay four,
and are called by the name of Half-web.”
In the Hebrides* according to Mr; Harvie-Brown, they
usually arrive in the latter part of'May, and by August both
eld and young have taken their departure. Thie average
measurement ;o£ egg-S is 1*12 by *8 in., the ground-colour
olive >blotched with umber-brown. Thermale takes -a considerable
share in the-duties of incubation, and, as regards
the behaviour of*' the- .female, Kffie'laté W. Procter has contributed
thé following experiences1 obtained in Iceland :-^
The young birds leave the -nest as soon as hatched. On
the approach of 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
takes wing and flies >t8 a
great height; at the ‘same time displaying-a peculiar action
i f the wings ; ^thbri'descending mth great-velocity, and
making simultaneously a noise with her wings. : On her
return to her; young, she Uses'a particular my for the pur*
phsefof "gathering the young together; As soon: as she has
MlfiCted them; she covers; them with her wings like the
domestic'hen.”
■ fThbfoodpas may besfnferred from what has been already
stated, consists of small Crustacea, marine insects, aquatic
larvae, -Worms;;'Ac.;1': The^noteiS a sharp t tm l !
The Red-neekCd-Phalarope brééds in' the-Bseroes, Iceland,
and -Northern Scandinavia, anh 'can' be traced in summer
across Northern Russiaf-to Archangel'; théneej by way of
-Waigats, to “73°M. &t. on the-Taimyr Peninsula, in Liberia;
where, however, Middendorf found it less plentiful than the
preceding species ; hé; ajso found it nesting;in the highest
portion of'the: mountains of Bbsuda Alamyta. I t occurs
along the northern coask line as far as Behring’s Straits
where it is very' abundant. In the- Baltic • and along thé