SMITH'S LONGSPUR 1631 



lesser amounts of wheat, timothy, clover, crabgrass, common ragweed, 

 bulrush, millet, and sedge. Of animal food they say "Beetles 

 (particularly ground beetles), caterpillars, and spiders are prominent 

 among the invertebrates eaten by this species." 



Two birds Ben Coffey collected, one in Tennessee, the other in 

 Mississippi, had eaten mainly seeds of three-awn grass (Aristida). 

 Horace H. Jeeter found the birds inhabiting patches of this same 

 grass on a Shreveport, La., airport. W. D. Klimstra of Southern 

 Illinois University reports on the stomachs of two November birds 

 Jay Sheppard collected in Ohio: "We have examined the crops of 

 the two Smith's Longspurs. In the case of both there were two 

 species of plants represented: Sporobolus vaginiflora and Digitaria 

 vtclaemum. In both cases Sporobolus represents over 99 per cent 

 of the seeds." It is of interest to note that although Aristada was 

 growing in the field where these birds were collected, no seeds of it 

 were found in them. 



Voice. — Most observers encountering this species note as does 

 Preble (1908) in Athabasca: "My attention was first attracted to 

 them by their characteristic notes, several sharp 'chirps' uttered in 

 quick succession." 



R. T. Peterson (1960) says of its voice: "Rattling or clicking notes 

 in flight (suggests winding of cheap watch) . Song, sweet and warbler- 

 like; ends like a Chestnut-sided Warbler's (we' chew). 



The rattling notes characteristically given as the birds take wing 

 are also heard on the ground. These notes are similar to those of the 

 Lapland longspur, but some observers believe they can detect a 

 difference in quality between the two. To me the notes of Smith's 

 seem more staccato, louder, and more intense than those of the Lap- 

 land, though the differences may not be apparent on first meeting 

 with the birds. A flock of birds calling overhead may induce others 

 on the ground to join them in flight, or vice-versa. 



Behavior. — Alexander Wetmore wrote me in a letter: 



In late February and early March, 1905, I found between 20 and 30 Smith's 

 longspurs scattered through large pastures near Independence in southeastern 

 Kansas. They ranged in wet ground, in slight depressions, and around small 

 ponds where grassy vegetation had been grazed closely by cattle. In this rather 

 open cover the longspurs remained so concealed that I came upon the first ones 

 seen by chance, so that it is possible that they had been present there throughout 

 the winter. I located them first by their low calls, sufficiently different from those 

 of the Lapland longspur, present in numbers, to attract attention. Often they 

 allowed approach, without moving, to within a dozen steps; occasionally I found 

 that one had remained hidden while I passed within a dozen feet. 



They flushed suddenly, with low calls that were repeated at times by hidden 

 birds which remained in the grass, and flew with a swift, erratic flight that for 

 a few yards reminded me of the zigzag course of a common snipe as it flushed. 

 Often the longspurs dropped immediately to the ground. If they remained in 



