Extracts from Diary of Otto Widniann 31 



states, abundantly to Kansas and Colorado. Near St. 

 Louis we meet with it in most unlikely places, on wind- 

 swept hillsides, often in company of Horned Larks, feed- 

 ing on grass seeds, probably also on grasshopper eggs 

 and dead grasshoppers. It is a great sight to watch a flock 

 of a few hundred hungry Longspurs alight on a tract of 

 unfilled land. They do not scatter over it promiscuously 

 as some other birds would do, but start all together at 

 one end of the tract and go at once to work j^icking up 

 whatever there is for them to eat, advancing like an army 

 in one direction. After a very short time those in the 

 rear of the advancing column fly low over the heads of 

 the flock and alight at the head of the army, but are at 

 the head only a few moments when another part}' leaves 

 the rear and goes to the head. This goes on until the 

 whole tract has been gone over, and is certainly a good 

 way of gathering everything desirable mtli the least 

 possible loss. When disturbed the whole flock goes up 

 to a great height and is soon lost out of sight, for they 

 are great flyers and are among the longest-winged mem- 

 bers of the Sparrow family. 



lA rover, but a 100 per cent American rover, not a 

 hyphenated intruder from the Old World, is the Evening 

 Grosbeak. He is at home in the mountainous West from 

 Canada to Guatemala, but visits with irregular frequency, 

 sometimes in large flocks, as far east as New York and 

 New England. The species has repeatedly been encoun- 

 tered in Missouri and mav be looked for at anv time be- 

 tween October 1 and April 1. 



I had the pleasure of making its acquaintance in Strat- 

 ton Park, near Colorado Springs, June 6, 1903, where a 

 male and female were hopping unconcernedly on the 

 walks of that very much frequented pleasure resort. It 

 is a bird of distinguished appearance and not easily over- 

 looked or forgotten. It would be something to bo thank- 

 ful for if the species would become more plentiful and 

 would extend its breeding range into the middle states. 



