NORTHERN PHALAROPE
223. Lobipes lobatus. 7.5 in.
Bill short and slender. Female in summer with reddish-brown breast; gray upper parts mixed with white and buff; throat and belly, white. Male, similar but duller colored. In winter, the upper parts are gray mixed with white, and the underparts are pure white. This is a maritime species that nests in the far north, and appears on our coast only for a short time during migrations. Like the last, they are expert swimmers and pass most of their time, when not breeding, upon the surface of the water, where they can outride the most severe storms in safety. They feed upon minute insects that they secure from beds of floating kelp.
Notes.—A sharp, rapidly repeated, metallic “tweet.”
Nest.—A grass-lined hollow in the ground; eggs greenish-buff, spotted with black (1.30 × .90).
Range.—Breeds from Labrador, Hudson Bay and Alaska northward. Winters south of the United States, migrating along both coasts, and to some extent in the interior.
WILSON PHALAROPE
224. Steganopus tricolor. 9 in.