SMITH' S LONGSPUR 1633 



or whether they return to the same wintering grounds in subsequent 

 years is unknown. So far the species has proved even more difficult 

 to band than it generally is to observe, and too few have been banded 

 to contribute materially to our information. 



Previous to 1958 the only Smith's longspurs ever banded were five 

 nestlings at Churchill, Manitoba, three in 1933 and two in 1941. 

 In April 1958, Ronald Austing and Edward Johnstone tried to catch 

 some with mist nets at the Oxford, Ohio, airport. They were plagued 

 by the constant strong seasonal winds, but finally, on the 14th, they 

 managed to herd the birds and suddenly flush three of them into the 

 nets, two males and a female. The following year they put out 

 cracked corn as bait, which the birds were quick to find and come to. 

 Between March 28 and April 23 they banded 39 birds and took 5 

 repeats of individuals from 6 to 19 days after banding. 



They tried again in the spring of 1960, but the birds showed no 

 interest in the cracked corn put out, nor in other baits offered them — 

 seeds of clover, orchard grass, and lespedeza. Again unfavorable 

 ■winds interfered with their efforts, but finally they managed to net 

 six new birds at a nearby puddle where 70 to 80 birds came regularly 

 to drink at noon. Thus over a 3-year period only 48 individuals were 

 banded which to date have produced no returns or recoveries. 



Distribution 



Range. — Northern Alaska, northern Yukon, northwestern Macken- 

 zie, and southeastern Keewatin, southeastward to central Texas, 

 northwestern Louisiana and Mississippi, and southwestern Tennessee. 



Breeding range. — The Smith's longspur breeds from northeast- 

 central Alaska (nests recorded from Anaktuvuk Pass), northern 

 Yukon (Herschel Island), northwestern and central northern Mac- 

 kenzie (Caribou Hills west of Mackenzie Delta, mouth of Kogaryuak 

 River on Coronation Gulf), and southeastern Keewatin, southeast to 

 south-central Mackenzie, northeastern Manitoba (Churchill), and 

 the Hudson Bay coast of northern Ontario (Fort Severn, Cape 

 Henrietta Maria, and Little Cape). 



Winter range. — Winters from Kansas, central Iowa (Linn and 

 Poweshiek counties), and Illinois, south to central Texas (Giddings), 

 northwestern Louisiana (Shreveport), central Arkansas (Lonoke), 

 northwestern Mississippi (Walls), and southwestern Tennessee 

 (Memphis). 



Casual records. — Casual west to central and southeastern British 

 Columbia (Kispiox Valley, Boundary Pass), north to central northern 

 Alaska (Umiat on the Colville River), east to southern Ontario (Elm- 



