small and too seldom seen in large numbers to warrant pursuing them; so
man should not be counted among their enemies. On their Arctic breeding
grounds they evidently have plenty of avian enemies, such as jaegers,
gulls, and various gyrfalcons. Mr. Manniche (1910) writes:
The two phalaropes observed were evidently very much afraid of
larger waders as for instance knots. Several times I saw them rush
together in terror and lie motionless on the water with their heads
pressed down to their backs until the supposed danger--a passing
knot--was past; then they continued their meal or love-making. The
only enemy of the full-grown birds is the gyrfalcon (_Falco
gyrfalco_), which will surprise and capture them when lying on the
water. This I succeeded in observing one day in summer 1907; just
as I was observing a male phalarope, which swam along the beach of
a little clear pond hardly two paces from my feet, I suddenly heard
a strong whistling in the air and saw an old falcon, that from a
dizzy height shot like an arrow towards the surface of the water,
caught the phalarope and again rapidly rose in the air carrying the
bird in its talons. I saw the bird of prey descend and settle on
the summit of a rock near the bay in order to eat its prey. The
method, with which the falcon carried out its exploit, proved that
several phalaropes before had the same fate. The gyrfalcon can
certainly not catch a phalarope in flight.
Nature, however, sometimes takes her toll, as the following observation
on the coast of California reported by L. W. Welch (1922) will
illustrate:
There was an unusual migration of red phalaropes (_Phalaropus
fulicarius_) this past fall. I saw about three hundred within an
hour on the ponds of the Long Beach Salt Works. This was October
30. There was a great mortality among them this year. Dead birds
were brought to the schools picked up by children in the streets or
elsewhere. On the ponds mentioned above, dead birds were washed up
in windrows. I could count 19 from one position and 21 from
another. I counted 75 within half an hour. The birds had no shot
holes in them, and showed no external evidences of having flown
against wires, but all the birds examined were emaciated in the
extreme.
Mr. Brandt in his manuscript notes writes:
I was told that the natives look upon the flesh of the red
phalarope as the greatest delicacy, and it is considered the
choicest food that can be placed before an honored guest. The
little native boys have, as their most prized mark, this red-brown
target. Inasmuch as this bird inhabits the small ponds just outside
the villages, the young hunters have always easily stalked game
available. The children begin to hunt the red phalarope as soon as
they are large enough to pull a bow string. The chase is so
alluring that the older boys in my employ could not resist the
temptation whenever presented, to grab a bow and arrow from the
youngsters, and stalk this little bird. The chase is not one sided,
however, as the phalarope is as quick as a flash, and like cupid's
arrows, many shots fail to reach their mark.
_Fall._--The red phalaropes are the last of the waders to leave their
Arctic breeding grounds, lingering until the lakes and shores are closed
with ice, often well into October. These loiterers are all young birds;
the adults leave early and are sometimes seen off the coasts of the
United States in July. F. S. Hersey and I collected one at Chatham,
Mass., on July 4, 1921; this may have been a loiterer from the spring
flight, but probably it was an early fall migrant.
The fall migration is usually well out at sea, often hundreds of miles
from land. Kumlien (1879) writes:
These birds were met with at great distances from land. The first
seen on our outward passage was on August 4, 1877, In latitude 41°
N., longitude 68° W.; here large flocks were met with. As we
proceeded northward, their numbers increased till we reached
Grinnell Bay. Off the Amitook Islands, on the Labrador coast, 200
miles from the nearest land, I saw very large flocks during a
strong gale.
William Palmer (1890) met with it in great abundance between Cape Sable
and Cape Cod on August 30.
Off the coast of California the flight begins in July or early August
and continues through the fall; a few birds linger through the winter
from Monterey southward. Throughout the great interior of North America
migration records are scattered, hardly more than casuals. It is
interesting, however, to note that Audubon (1840) saw his first birds of
this species on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, where he
killed 17 at one shot. I have an adult male in my collection which was
shot on the Taunton River, near my home, on August 12, 1913.
_Winter._--Our knowledge of the winter home of our American birds of
this species is rather meager. They have been traced as far south as the
Falkland Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and Juan Fernandez in the
Pacific. Probably they are scattered over the warmer portions of both
oceans, wherever they can find an abundant food supply.
A number of phalaropes, almost certainly of this species, were observed
by Mr. Nichols in the Atlantic, off Cape Lookout, March 22, 1926. "They
may winter here or, what is equally likely, arrive in spring to find the
same feed which attracts the mackerel to the capes of the Carolinas in
March or April."
Aretas A. Saunders writes to me of a similar observation made by him off
the coast of South Carolina on March 5, 1908:
That day red phalaropes were abundant on the water, though we were
out of sight of land. The sea was calm with a glossy surface, but a
slight swell and flocks of from 10 to 50 birds rose from in front
of the boat, at intervals all morning. They flew in compact flocks,
low over the water, and alighted again when some distance away.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--Arctic regions of both Old and New Worlds; south in winter to
South Africa, India, China, and southern South America.
_Breeding range._--In the Old World the red phalarope breeds on the
Arctic coast from Iceland east to Nova Zembla, the Taimur Peninsula, and
the islands and coast of Siberia to Bering Sea. The race, _jourdaini_,
breeds in Spitsbergen, Iceland, and eastern Greenland.
In the Western Hemisphere the breeding range extends north to Alaska
(probably St. Lawrence Island, Cape Prince of Wales, Cape Lowenstern,
Point Barrow, and the Colville delta); Mackenzie (Rendezvous Lake and
Franklin Bay); northern Franklin (Bay of Mercy, Winter Harbor, and Cape
Liverpool); Grinnell Island (Fort Conger); and Greenland (Disco Bay,
Godhavn, and probably Christianshaab). East to Greenland (Stormkap and
probably Christianshaab); eastern Franklin (Exeter Sound, probably
Nugumeute and Grinnell Bay); and Ungava (Port Burwell). South to Ungava
(Port Burwell and probably Prince of Wales Sound); southern Franklin
(Southampton Island and Cape Fullerton); and Alaska (Fort Egbert and
Hooper Bay). West to Alaska (Hooper Bay, St. Michael, and probably St.
Lawrence Island).
_Winter range._--In the Eastern Hemisphere the winter range of the red
phalarope seems to be principally at sea off the southern coast of
Arabia and the west coast of Africa.
At this season in the Western Hemisphere it has been taken or observed
north to Lower California (La Paz and Cape San Lucas); off the coast of
Southern California (Point Pinos, Santa Cruz Islands, Anacapa Island,
and San Diego); Alabama (Pickett Springs); Florida (Canaveral Light);
and South Carolina (Mount Pleasant); and south to southern South America
(Falkland Islands, Patagonia, and Chile).
_Spring migration._--Early dates of arrival in North America are: North
Carolina, Cape Lookout, May 29; Delaware, seen off the coast, May 9; New
Jersey, Cape May, May 3, and Ocean City, May 6; New York, Shelter
Island, March 25, and Montauk Point, April 30; Connecticut, Bridgeport,
May 30; Massachusetts, Gloucester, April 2; Maine, York Beach, May 8;
Nova Scotia, Halifax, June 10; Quebec, Prince of Wales Sound, May 31;
Washington, Destruction Island lighthouse, May 8; and Alaska, Cape
Constantine, May 15, Kodiak Island, May 16, near Kotlik, May 28, Prince
Frederick Sound, May 29, and Point Barrow, June 3.
_Fall migration._--Late dates of departure in the fall are: Alaska,
Chatham Straits, September 9, Becharof Lake, October 6, Point Barrow,
October 10, St. Michael, October 14, and Kodiak Island, November 4;
Washington, Ilwaco, November 9, and Shoalwater Bay, November 24;
California, Berkeley, October 27, Point Reyes, November 22, and Santa
Barbara, November 30; Labrador, West Ste. Modiste, September 13; Prince
Edward Island, North River, November 20; Nova Scotia, off the coast,
September 16; Maine, Westbrook, September 26, Old Orchard, October 5,
and Portland, October 16; Massachusetts, North Truro, October 15, near
Nantucket, October 25, and Boston, December 30; Connecticut, Portland,
October 21, and East Haven, November 24; New York, Oneida Lake, October
4, Branchport, October 12, Orient Point, October 15, Cayuga Lake,
October 18, and Montauk Point, November 27; Maryland, White's Ferry,
October 4; District of Columbia, Anacostia River, October 17; and
Virginia, Blacksburg, September 21.
_Casual records._--The red phalarope is rare or irregular anywhere in
the interior but it has nevertheless been detected over wide areas on
several occasions. Among these records are: Vermont, Woodstock, November
10, 1916; Pennsylvania, Bucks County, December 15, 1918; Ohio,
Painesville, November 9, 1923; Ontario, Ottawa, October 21, 1886, and
Hamilton, November 17, 1882; Michigan, Monroe, October 24, 1888, and
October 25, 1890; Indiana, Jasper County, April 10, 1885, and Terre
Haute, October 23, 1889; Wisconsin, Lake Koshkonong, September 3, 1891,
Delavan, October 11, 1902, and near Cedar Grove, October 8, 1921;
Kentucky, near Louisville, latter part of October, 1808; South Dakota,
one taken near Rapid City (date unknown); Kansas, near Lawrence,
November 5, 1905; Wyoming, Laramie Plains, fall of 1897; Colorado,
Loveland, July 25, 1895; and Texas, Wise County, September 26, 1893. It
also has been taken once in New Zealand, at Waimate, South Island, in
June, 1883.
_Egg dates._--Alaska: 152 records, May 25 to July 13; 76 records, June
14 to 30. Arctic Canada: 14 records, June 21 to July 14; 7 records, June
24 to July 6. Spitsbergen: 22 records, June 24 to July 18; 11 records,
June 28 to July 11. Iceland: 17 records, June 1 to 25; 9 records, June
14 to 22.
LOBIPES LOBATUS (Linnaeus)
NORTHERN PHALAROPE
HABITS
This is the smallest, the most abundant, and the most widely distributed
of the phalaropes; consequently it is the best known. Its breeding range
is circumpolar, but extends much farther south than that of the red
phalarope; it might be called sub-Arctic rather than Arctic. There seems
to be only one homogeneous species around the world. It resembles the
red phalarope in its habits, but is more often seen on inland waters
than is that species.
_Spring._--Countless thousands of these dainty little birds migrate
northward off both coasts of North America in May, but very few ever
come ashore except in bad weather. While cruising off the coast, 10 or
more miles from land, one is likely to see them flying about in flocks,
after the manner of small sandpipers, flitting about and alighting on
drifting masses of seaweed or other flotsam, or swimming lightly on the
smooth surface of the sea, darting hither and thither in a most erratic
way, each seemingly intent on gathering its tiny bits of food. They are
gentle, graceful, and charming little birds and well worth watching.
There is also a heavy northward migration through the interior during
May. In Saskatchewan I saw a large flock at Quill Lake on May 28, 1917;
and in the Crane Lake region we recorded it as an abundant migrant; it
was seen migrating, on May 29, 1905, in large flocks with sanderlings;
one was seen at Hay Lake on June 15; and two were taken on June 14,
1906, at Big Stick Lake, which were in breeding condition. C. G. Harrold
writes to me that it is a common and rather late migrant in Manitoba.
William Rowan's notes contain several references to the enormous flocks
which pass Beaverhill Lake, Alberta, in May, mostly during the last two
weeks.
Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) has given us the following attractive account of
the arrival of these birds in northern Alaska:
As summer approaches on the Arctic shores and coast of Bering Sea
the numberless pools, until now hidden under a snowy covering,
become bordered or covered with water; the mud about their edges
begins to soften, and through the water the melting ice in the
bottom looks pale green. The ducks and geese fill the air with
their loud resounding cries, and the rapid wing strokes of arriving
and departing flocks add a heavy bass to the chorus which greets
the opening of another glad season in the wilds of the cheerless
north. Amid this loud-tongued multitude suddenly appears the
graceful, fairylike form of the northern phalarope. Perhaps, as the
hunter sits by the border of a secluded pool still half covered
with snow and ice, a pair of slight wings flit before him, and
there, riding on the water, scarcely making a ripple, floats this
charming and elegant bird. It glides hither and thither on the
water, apparently drifted by its fancy, and skims about the pool
like an autumn leaf wafted before the playful zephyrs on some
embosomed lakelet in the forest. The delicate tints and slender
fragile form, combining grace of color and outline with a
peculiarly dainty elegance of motion, render this the most lovely
and attractive among its handsome congeners.
The first arrivals reach St. Michaels in full plumage from May 14
to 15, and their number is steadily augmented, until, the last few
days of May and 1st of June, they are on hand in full force and
ready to set about the season's cares. Every pool now has from one
to several pairs of these birds gliding in restless zigzag motion
around its border, the slender necks at times darting quickly
right or left as the bright black eyes catch sight of some minute
particle of food. They may be watched with pleasure for hours, and
present a picture of exquisite gentleness which renders them an
unfailing source of interest. The female of this bird, as is the
case with the two allied species, is much more richly colored than
the male and possesses all the "rights" demanded by the most
radical reformers.
_Courtship._--The same gifted writer goes on to say:
As the season comes on when the flames of love mount high, the
dull-colored male moves about the pool, apparently heedless of the
surrounding fair ones. Such stoical indifference usually appears
too much for the feelings of some of the fair ones to bear. A
female coyly glides close to him and bows her head in pretty
submissiveness, but he turns away, pecks at a bit of food and moves
off; she follows and he quickens his speed, but in vain; he is her
choice, and she proudly arches her neck and in mazy circles passes
and repasses close before the harassed bachelor. He turns his
breast first to one side, then to the other, as though to escape,
but there is his gentle wooer ever pressing her suit before him.
Frequently he takes flight to another part of the pool, all to no
purpose. If with affected indifference he tries to feed, she swims
along side by side, almost touching him, and at intervals rises on
wing above him and, poised a foot or two over his back, makes a
half dozen quick, sharp wing strokes, producing a series of sharp,
whistling noises in rapid succession. In the course of time it is
said that water will wear the hardest rock, and it is certain that
time and importunity have their full effect upon the male of this
phalarope, and soon all are comfortably married, while mater
familias no longer needs to use her seductive ways and charming
blandishments to draw his notice.
Mrs. Audrey Gordon (1921) made some interesting observations on the
courtship of the red-necked phalarope, as this species is called abroad;
she writes of her experiences in the Hebrides:
Three pairs were apparently in process of courting and their
behavior was most interesting. Both cocks and hens were swimming in
the water near the shore or in pools among the rushes. Suddenly a
hen would raise herself in the water and flutter her wings at a
great pace with her head held down and neck outstretched, all the
while uttering a curious harsh call. She would then pursue the cock
rapidly through the water for a few yards as though trying to
attract his attention. At times the cock rose from the water and
flew round about the pool where the hen was, with a low erratic
flight and very slow wing beats, calling as he flew. This display
only lasted a minute, when he would again alight on the water. Once
after this flight the hen followed him closely and he turned and
seemed to be about to mate her, but she would not let him. I saw no
more on this occasion, but on June 18 I watched two hens and one
cock in a pool. One of the hens kept close to the cock and whenever
the other hen came nearer she would chase her away. Both the cock
and the hen were seen to stand up in the water and flutter their
wings as described above. The cock seemed to pay little attention
to the hens and was busy pursuing, and picking up off the water,
large black flies. Then, without any warning or unusual excitement
on the part of either cock or hen, the nearest one to the cock
suddenly put her head low down in the water with neck outstretched
and made a curious single note. The cock at once swam to her and
mating took place, the hen being submerged in the water except for
her beautiful red neck. The cock fluttered his wings all the time;
he then went ashore into the grasses. The second hen still kept in
the neighborhood, though I imagine she must have realized she had
lost her chance of a mate.
P. H. Bahr (1907) throws some light on the peculiar sexual relations of
this species; he says:
On the 5th of June we watched the phenomena of polygamy, and of
attempted polyandry in this species. At one end of the loch the
former condition held sway, two energetic and quarrelsome females
having attached themselves to one miserable-looking male, and it
was ludicrous to behold the awe in which he held them. Once in
particular he nearly swam between my legs in his efforts to avoid
their attentions. Till our departure on the 27th, these three birds
were constantly to be seen together. At the other end of the loch
two males were seen continuously circling round the head of a
female. I frequently observed the male performing evolutions, which
I have previously described as the "marriage flight." Zigzagging
from side to side with amazing rapidity he would hover with
dangling legs over the head of the female, who, circling placidly
in the water, appeared to take no notice of his attentions. Then
settling beside her he would peck and chase her as if endeavoring
to make her take to flight. Failing in this he would dash off once
more across the marsh uttering a warbling sort of song much like
that of the ringed plover. Then he would settle in a reedy spot,
such as would be chosen for the nesting site, and would call
vigorously, looking always in the direction of the female, as if
expecting her to follow. I observed several pairs, behaving in this
manner, and such was their fervor that the males continued this
performance even in the midst of one of the worst storms we
experienced. Often the female would resent these attentions, and a
pitched battle would ensue.
Herbert W. Brandt (mss.) writes:
It is very interesting to watch a struggle between two female
northern phalaropes over a solitary male. They fight by the hour,
not after the manner of the males, which rush at each other and
boldly lock in a mortal combat, but rather these females fight by
flipping their wings and pecking at each other instead of laying
hold with determination. This can be likened only to a feminine
hair-pulling episode. One day I watched such a combat for an hour,
and there were numerous occasions on which I thought that one of
the birds would succumb; but the contest seemed to be very equal,
and when a bird recovered from a hard onslaught it would return at
once and take up the wing sparring. They would flutter here and
there over the ground, first one then the other attacking, closely
followed all the time by the shy but neutral male, the prize of the
conflict. Natives informed me that they had never known of one's
being killed by the other, but that the birds would fight all day
long.
_Nesting._--My personal experience with the nesting habits of the
northern phalarope has been limited to what few nests we found in the
Aleutian Islands in 1911. These birds were very scarce or entirely
absent in the eastern half of the chain. We saw a few on Atka Island
where several nests, with fresh eggs or incomplete sets, were found on
June 18. On Kiska Island they were really abundant and we found them
breeding about the small grassy ponds and wet meadows; fresh eggs were
found on June 21. Their favorite resorts all through the western part
of the chain were the wetter portions of the flat alluvial plains, near
the mouths of the streams and about the marshy ponds. They were very
tame everywhere and, about the ponds where they were breeding, they were
very solicitous and noisy. Their simple nests were merely deep, little
hollows, lined with a few bits of grass, in the little mounds or
tussocks in the wet meadows around the borders of the ponds or near the
small streams.
F. S. Hersey collected several sets of eggs for me near St. Michael,
Alaska, in 1914 and 1915; most of the nests were in rather wet
situations on the tundra, in or near marshy places, rather poorly
concealed and scantily lined with grasses; others were well hidden in
the clumps of scanty grass, or deeply sunken into the tundra mosses and
lined with bits of leaves or well lined with grasses. Other observers
have described the nesting habits of this species substantially as
indicated above, except that Henry H. Slater (1898), who has
"encountered 45 nests with eggs in them in one day, and considerably
more than a hundred altogether", describes the nest as "a deep
comfortable cup, concealed in a tuft of grass, or under a trailing
branch of some dwarf Arctic shrub."
_Eggs._--The northern phalarope lays four eggs almost invariably, rarely
three eggs constitute a second set; as many as five and even seven eggs
have been found in a nest, the largest number being the product of two
females. The eggs vary in shape from subpyriform to ovate pyriform, are
slightly glossy and are very fragile. The prevalent ground colors range
from "pale olive buff" to "dark olive buff" or "ecru olive;" "olive
buff" seems to be the commonest shade. In richly colored sets the colors
range from "Isabella color," or "Dresden brown" to "buckthorn brown;"
and in light buffy sets from "cream buff" to "cream color." The size,
type, and arrangement of markings vary greatly in endless patterns. Some
eggs, perhaps only one in a set, are evenly covered with small spots or
dots, but more often these are mixed with larger, irregular spots or
blotches. Some eggs are boldly marked with large irregular blotches. The
colors of the markings range from "sepia," or "warm sepia," and "bister"
to deep blackish brown, depending on the depth of the pigment. The
underlying spots, in various drab shades, are small, inconspicuous and
not numerous. In my series of over 50 sets there are two abnormal eggs;
one is plain bluish white and unmarked; and another is similar except
for one large blotch of "sepia" covering the large end. The measurements
of 119 eggs, in the United States National Museum, average 29 by 20
millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =33= by 21, 28
by =22.5=, =27= by 19, and 31 by =18.5= millimeters.
_Young._--The period of incubation does not seem to be definitely known,
but probably it is not far from 21 days. A set of four eggs found by H.
B. Conover on June 10 hatched on the evening of June 30. Incubation is
performed largely, but perhaps not wholly, by the male. H. H. Slater
(1898) writes: