224. Steganopus tricolor. 9 in.

Bill long and slender. Female in summer with a black line through eye, shading into a broad stripe of rich chestnut on the sides of the neck. Male much duller colored and slightly smaller. This phalarope is one of the most beautiful of all our shore birds, and is the most southerly distributed of the phalaropes. It is a bird of the interior, and is only rarely or casually met with on the sea coasts. It commonly travels about in small companies instead of large flocks as the other two species do, and is not as often seen on the water, although it can swim well.

Notes. - Usually silent, but has a low quack.

Nest. - Of grasses, on the ground, usually concealed in a tuft of grass, and near the border of a marsh or pond; the 3 or 4 eggs are brownish or greenish-buff with black markings (1.30 x .90); June.

Range. - Breeds chiefly in the interior, from Iowa and California, north to Hudson Bay; winters south of the U. S.