tinguish its colours, its buoyant pose upon the water left no doubt in our minds of its identity. Early next morning we were at the pool, and found the little wanderer swimming within a few yards of the bank. Although we approached it quite openly, the bird made no effort to elude us; in fact, it hardly seemed to notice our presence. So lightly did the bird rest upon the water that it looked as if a breath of wind would pick it up and blow it away; yet, though it generally swam head to wind against a stiff breeze, it appeared to experience no inconvenience when swimming in the opposite direction. The bird was busily feeding—dipping its beak constantly in the water, and now and then uttering a soft "peep peep." After we had watched the Phalarope for some time, as it swam with a zigzag course but a few feet from us, we threw a stone into the water near it, for we wished to see it on the wing. The bird rose, hovered for a second a few inches above the water, and then flew off over the grass, somewhat resembling a Ringed Plover in its flight, and distinctly showing its white wing-bars. It was back again in a minute, and recommenced feeding. During the day we visited the pool several times, but we never succeeded in inducing it to fly again; when disturbed by a splash it simply rose and hovered for a moment, dropping again a yard or so further on. At nightfall the bird was still there, but it had gone by the following morning.
It was an adult female; the rich fox-red of the neck contrasting sharply with the pure white chin and under parts and the dark grey of the upper breast. The clearly defined white spot immediately above the eye was distinctly noticeable at a distance of some yards.[1]
Between Penmon Point and Redwharf Bay the limestone cliffs rise to a considerable height, affording nesting ledges, in places, for many rock-haunting birds. At one spot there was a
- ↑ This spot appears to have escaped the notice of many ornithologists, whose descriptions have been compiled from the examination of dried skins. The spot is not shown in the figures of the bird in Dresser's 'Birds of Europe,' and Lilford's 'Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Islands,' although it is undoubtedly present in the skins from which the figures were drawn. We have examined these skins in the Dresser Collection at Owens College, Manchester, and found that, owing to the contraction of the skin over the orbit, the spot is practically obliterated in dried specimens.
