COMMON LAPLAND LONGSPUR 1605 



When disturbed they would fly up two or three at a time and perch in the 

 bushes, where, if not further molested, they would make an attempt at singing. 

 On being startled into the air the whole flock circled about for a time, now and 

 then leaving as if for good and as often returning to alight on the ground, or, in 

 two or three instances, in the tops of a neighboring grove of small oaks. No 

 sooner were they fairly settled in the trees than all burst out singing, and, although 

 thus early in the season the individual effort was neither full nor continuous, the 

 general chorus was quite loud and pleasing and kept up without breaks. The 

 effect was very much like that produced by a flock of Blackbirds. These birds 

 were not in very full plumage. 



By April 23 the birds "were then in nearly full spring plumage and 

 uttering an agreeable musical song." E. T. Seton (1891) describes 

 generally similar behavior of spring migrants in Manitoba. 



In Maine, R. S. Palmer (1949) quotes A. H. Norton's notes to the 

 effect that: "the small flocks at Scarborough are found in sheltered 

 places about the edges of grassy areas and out on the sand where 

 vegetation is sparse. Here their food is mainly the seeds on the long 

 spikes of marram grass (Ammophila sp.) and the seeds of orache 

 (Atriplex sp.). Inland, they have been seen in fields where ragweed 

 (Ambrosia sp.) and other weed stalks protrude above the snow. 

 Associates, in decreasing order of frequency noted, are Horned Larks, 

 Pipits, and Snow Buntings." 



C W. Townsend (1905) says that in Massachusetts "Lapland 

 Longspurs, although occasionally found by themselves, are more apt 

 to be associated with Horned Larks and Snow Buntings. Flying and 

 feeding with these birds, they generally keep together, however, in 

 one part of the flock, although a few scattered birds are not uncommon. 

 They frequent the dunes at Ipswich and the neighboring hills by the 

 sea * * *." 



In a letter to Mr. Bent, Wendell Taber wrote: "On February 3, 

 1935, following a long spell of below-zero weather, I saw five of these 

 birds on Ipswich beach in Massachusetts, accompanied by one snow 

 bunting. My wife and I walked right up to the birds. A number of 

 times I was within 4 to 6 feet of a bird. Ultimately I laid down and 

 stretched out on my stomach near a bird. The bird kept right on 

 feeding within a few feet of me, and came within 18 inches of my elbow. 

 I watched it take a mouthful of snow and, seemingly, 'chew' it up 

 and swallow it." 



Geoffrey Carleton writes in a letter from New York : 



On March 28,1965 Mr. John L. Bull, Eugene Eisenmann and I were on a remote 

 part of the Kennedy International Airport. It was a sunny afternoon with a 

 sharp, cold sea breeze. About 25 Lapland longspurs showed a preference for the 

 tops of rocks piled along the shore as a breakwater, many of them evidently quar- 

 ried for the purpose and 3 or 4 feet thick. Some of the longspurs were singing, 

 particularly those most advanced into breeding plumage. Some were crouched 

 so as to be more sheltered from the wind, and I believed they were taking advantage 



