CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR 1635 



June. The birds with the palest underparts and darkest backs (C. p. 

 "mersi") are in worn faded plumage and were collected in July and 

 early August just before the postnuptial molt. The describer was 

 apparently misled by inadequate material and biased sampling. — 

 O.L.A., Jr. 



CALCARIUS ORNATUS (Townsend) 



Chestnut -collared Longspur 



PLATE 78 



Contributed by George M. Fairfield 



Habits 



When he investigated the birds of the Saskatchewan prairies in 

 1905, Mr. Bent (1908) wrote of the chestnut-collared longspur: 

 "This and the following species [McCown's longspur] were a constant 

 source of enjoyment and interest; we never ceased to admire their 

 beautifid plumage and their delightful little flight songs, during our 

 long drives across the grassy plains." 



Indeed, the male chestnut-collar, with his black underparts, white 

 winglinings and tail, and rich chestnut nape, adds a pleasant note of 

 contrast to the rather monotonous aspect of the northern prairies. 

 Where the grass is sparse and preferably less than 8 inches high, we 

 see dotted here and there across the plain the black breasts of birds 

 perched on low weeds guarding their territories. As we approach 

 they take off and circle around with undulating flight, giving their 

 short lively song and their high clear alarm call. 



When the northern prairies became the great wheat-producing 

 region of the continent, the amount of grassland available for the 

 chestnut-collar was reduced proportionately. The McCown's long- 

 spur and the horned lark, adapted to sparser, more open ground than 

 the chestnut-collar, were able to continue nesting in the summer- 

 fallow ploughed fields. The chestnut-collar, needing elevated song 

 perches and a little cover for its nest, found the plowed lands too open. 

 As the fields of growing wheat were too dense and confining for such 

 an open-country bird, all that remained for its use were uncultivated 

 pastures and wastelands. In heavily settled regions today the only 

 suitable habitat for the chestnut-collar is on the outskirts of towns 

 and cities where golf courses, airports, and idle lands provide the 

 needed degree of cover. 



T. S. Roberts (1932) thus describes the effect on the chestnut-collar 

 of the agricultural altering of the virgin prairie in Minnesota: "For- 

 merly an abundant summer resident throughout the prairie region of 



