PHA LAROPT:S, Briss. Tern. Ste. PHA LA RGPE.
Bill long, slender, feeble, straight, depressed at the base, both mandibles channelled to the tip, the extremity of the upper bent down on the lower, and obtuse, point of the lower mandible subulate; nostrils basal, lateral, oval, prominent, surrounded by a membrane ; legs middle sized, slender, tarsi compressed, the anterior toes con nected to the first articulation, and the rest of their length furnished with scalloped and serrated membranes; the hind toe without a membrane ; wings middle-sized. The few species which strictly appertain to this genus are among the smallest of swimming birds, and flit over the waves with much grace and nimbleness, gliding, with apparently equal facility, over the smooth lake and the agitated ocean ; but they seem to prefer brackish and salt water to fresh. On land they run heavily. They are often observed at a great distance from the shore; and they principally subsist on small insects and marine worms, which they pick up on the surface or margin of the waters. Like the sea-fowls, they have their body fur nished with down, and their plumage thick-set and glossy.
P. hyperboreus, Lath. Tern. P. Williantsii, Haworth, Tringa hyperborea, Gmel. Hyperborean, or Red Pha larope, Red-necked Phalarope,or Cock Coot footed Trin ga. The young, before their first moult, correspond to P. fuscus, Lath. Tringa fusca, Gmel. and Tringa lobata, Brunn. Breast cinereous, sides of the neck ferruginous, bill black ; band crossing the eyes blackish; bar on the wings white; rump with blackish band. Length six inches ten lines. Native of the arctic regions of Europe and America, and only migrating southward to shun the long freezing period of the winter months, returning in summer to breed and rear its young in Hudson's Bay, Greenland, Spitzbergen, Lapland, the shores of the Bal tic, St.c. Though not commonly observed in this island,
it has been ascertained that it breeds in the Orkneys, the female making her nest on the dry ground, but near wa ter, and laying four olivaceous eggs, mottled with dark spots and splashes. The male assists in the duties of in cubation, and the pairs arc usually found together catching insects in the water with their bill. Though they do not dive, they swim with the greatest ease, exhibiting the ap pearance of ducks in miniature. They are said to be easily tamed.
P. platyrhynchus, Tem. P. lobatus, Lath. and, in its summer plumage, P. rufus, Bechst. 1'. glacialis, Lath. and Tringa hyperborea, and T.glacialis, Gmel. Flat billed, Lobated, or Grey Phalarope, Coot footed Tringa, Scallop toed Sandpiper, kc. Half-web, of the Scots. Bill broad, depressed, flattened at the base, tail long, and much round ed. Size of the purre, weight one ounce, length between eight and nine inches. Native of the eastern portions of the north of Europe, particularly abundant on the shores of the great lakes and rivers of Siberia, migrating to the Caspian sea. It is also said to frequent the northern re gions of America, but rarely wanders to Britain or Ger many, and has been found, though not often, on the Lake of Geneva. In stormy weather it appears in flocks on the surface of lakes; but, when the atmosphere is serene, it is solitary in the fens. The details of its breeding seem to be unknown. On the 10th of June, in lat. north, in the midst of icebergs, and at the distance of four miles from land, a troop of this species was observed by Captain Sabine, swimming on the sea.