488 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



the mouth. A small company flew across the river in front of our 

 steamer in a southerly direction. In the spring of '99, on the Kowak, 

 the first longspurs were noted on the 20th of May. In this region 

 they inhabit the bare level stretches of tundra, extending at intervals 

 from the river back to the foot-hills. On June ist, I secured a nest 

 and five fresh eggs. The nest was embedded in the moss under an 

 overhanging clump of dead grass, and consisted of fine dry grasses, 

 with a lining of dark^ feathers of ptarmigan and short-eared owls. 

 The diameter of the nest cavity 2.50, with a depth of i.oo. The 

 eggs are nearly oblong-ovate in shape and measure .87 x .60, .86 x .61 , 

 .84 X. 60, .86 X. 60, 85 .X. 61. Their ground-colour, as disclosed for 

 a limited space at the small ends of two eggs, is very pale blue. 

 Otherwise the eggs are so completely covered with pigment as to 

 be almost uniform isabella colour. Overlying this are scattered 

 scrawls and dots of bistre. I found another nest on Chamisso 

 island on the 9th July. This was similarly located and contained 

 four eggs in which incubation was nearly completed. (Grmnell.) 

 Mr. William Palmer in The Birds of the Prihilof Islands gives a 

 detailed account of the breeding habits of the Alaskan longspur 

 there. 



537. Smitn Longspur. 



Calcarius picttis (Swains.) Stejn. 1882. 



Rather common in the meadows at Fort Churchill, Hudson bay, 

 July 23rd to 30th, 1900. They were quite tame, but hard to see 

 on the mossy hillocks. {Preble.) Observed only on one occasion 

 near the Souris river, when it was in company with chestnut-collared 

 and Lapland longspurs, having like the last species just arrived from 

 the north. {Coues.) An abundant spring but rare fall migrant in 

 Manitoba; on May 17th, 1884, they were at Carberry, Man., in 

 enormous numbers, and I had no difficulty in getting all the speci- 

 mens I desired. {E. T. Seton.) Rare at Aweme, Man. {C riddle.) 

 A large flock was seen at Indian Head, Sask., on May 12th, 1892, 

 common by the 15th but gone in a few days; a few were seen at 

 Egg lake, Peace river, lat. 56° on August 30th, and others at Lesser 

 Slave lake, September 5th, 1903. (Spreadborough.) This species 

 was observed associating with Lapland bantings on the banks of 

 the Saskatchewan, but no information regarding its breeding habits 



