ALASKA LONGSPUR 1615 



tion of many nests failed to reveal variation in size of the magnitude 

 Nelson indicates. 



Further variation in lining, apparently depending on availability of 

 materials, is indicated by the remarks of J. W. Bee (1958) who found 

 nests lined with snowy owl feathers and caribou hair, and A. M. 

 Bailey (1943) who also found a nest lined with caribou hair. The 

 slightly more than 100 nests I have found were all lined with nothing 

 but willow or rock ptarmigan feathers. 



Herbert Brandt (1943) gives the measurements in inches for 21 

 nests as follows: height 3 to 7, outside diameter 4 to 6.5, inside diam- 

 eter 3 to 3.5, and depth of cup 2.5 to 3.5. 



The nests are nearly always placed in depressions in the sides of 

 small hummocks of moss or sedge (Carex) or in the sides of tussocks of 

 grass {Calamagrostis) or sedge (Eriophorum). Invariably some 

 vegetation hangs over the nest, usually grass or sedge, or it may be 

 hidden by the leafy twigs of willow (Salix) or various ericaceous plants. 

 Nests are also placed in more level terrain such as Carex meadows or 

 alluvial flats grown to low willows, usually in the drier parts, and well 

 hidden beneath the vegetation. 



The nest nearly always has one conspicuous entrance, which com- 

 pass readings showed to be generally on the south side. The pre- 

 vailing wind in the study area was from the north, but longspurs at 

 other locations tended to orient the nest opening similarly, probably 

 to take advantage of the greater insolation from that direction. 

 A. V. Mikheev (1939), working in Russia, observed that the bowls of 

 the nests were inclined to the east, south, or southeast, a phenomenon he 

 attributed to the rarity of southeast winds during the nesting season. 

 At Cape Thompson south winds are also uncommon, but nonetheless 

 they are the ones associated with summer storms and precipitation. 



The general habitat utilized for nesting has been described earlier 

 in this paper. In summary, it can be said that longspurs are adaptable 

 in their choice of nesting locations, requiring primarily only open 

 terrain with concealing vegetation, either hillside or flatland, and 

 there preferring the more xeric sites with microrelief such as tussocks, 

 hummocks, and low ridges. The use of the term xeric here is de- 

 cidedly relative. Truly xeric areas such as rocky hillsides are as- 

 siduously avoided, and the remainder of the northern landscape, 

 all mesic by general terminology, is inhabited. Here, however, a 

 distinction must be made between areas with actual standing water 

 and those only moist underfoot. The latter are most densely occupied, 

 and the preference for elevated sites is conspicuous. Thus the com- 

 ment by many authors that the Lapland longspur requires and 

 selects moist areas for nesting is misleading. 



