ITilNlilLLIU.E — THE PINCHES. 517 



the birds were started uji by hundreds on every walk o\er the island. From 

 this he infers that they must be very carefully concealed. He often searched 

 I'or them, but always with the same result. Mr. Bannister regarded this 

 species as decidedly the best songster of its family. 



In the far North it is an extremely abundant species from one ocean to 

 the other, in the winter moving farther south, to the United States, in large 

 flocks. It has not been found in Calil'ornia, but in llie central and eastern 

 regions has been obtained as far soutii as Leavenworth, Kan., Itacine, Wis., 

 Boston, and New York. It is stated liy different oiiservers, that, like the 

 Lark, it sings only while in motion in the air, or while suspended, and that 

 its notes are agreeable and melodious. 



According to Itichardson, they breed in moist meadows on the shores of 

 the Arctic Sea, the nest being placed in a small hillock, among moss and 

 stones. It is composed externally of dry stems of grass, interwoven to a 

 considerable thickness, and lined very neatly and compactly with deer's hair. 

 The eggs, seven in number, he describes as pale ochre-yellow, spotted with 

 brown. Sir James Boss found them by no means numerous in the higher 

 nortliern latitudes, and obtained one nest, containing five eggs, in July. 



According to Holboll, this bird is common along the shores of both North 

 and South Greenlaud. Tliey reach tiodhaal) in tlie lieginning of May, and 

 Godhaven a month later. Their migrations do not take place all at once, 

 but they are constantly arriving during the month. It remains in South 

 Greenland until the beginning of September, and longer if the deep snows 

 do not drive it away. Tiiis bird is never met on shipboard until the vessels 

 are in Davis Strait, proving tliat their migrations nmst be from America. 

 The Greenlanders call it Narksamatak (inhabitant of the plains), — an ap- 

 propriate name, as it only lives on the lowlands near the sea-shore, where it 

 builds its nest in the manner of tlie Lark, in the grass, or among the lichens. 

 Its tive eggs, of a dirty olive-color sjiotted with brown, are smaller than those 

 of F. nivalis. The song of the male Ijird, as it hovers in the air or rocks on 

 a swaying twig, is very clear and melodious. It is even known as the Green- 

 land Nightingale. Its food is seeds, and it is not known to seek insect- 

 larvre on the houses of the Greenlanders, as does the /'. niadis. In their 

 winter dress they all resemble the female in her summer plumage, only in 

 the male some black is seen in the head-feathers. 



Fabricius describes its eggs as five or six in number, of a reddish-gray 

 with lirownish spots. Degland describes their ground-color as an ashy-gray, 

 covered with spots of liglit brown, with lines and spots of deep brown, and 

 also of clear black. 



Eggs from .\nderson Biver exhibit great variations in their appearance, 

 more from the difference in the distribution of their spots than from varia- 

 tions in colors. Where distinctly visible, the ground-color ajjpears to be of 

 yellowi.sh-gi'ay, fre(piently so thickly spotted as not to be recognizable. The 

 blotches are of various shades of brown, with shadings of olive, purple, or 



