THE WILSON QUARTERLY. 27 



northern observers who have hitherto found him only in 

 summer allow me to suggest that it would be of great inter- 

 est to make a careful stvuh' of Goldfinch and see if you do 

 not find him in winter also. 



533. Sj)inns pinus. Pine Siskin. 



This is one of the little know^n but interesting sparrows, 

 rather northern in its habitat. Mr. Strong finds it irregu- 

 larly at Milwaukee, Wis, Mr. Stone records it as tolerably 

 common in winter at Lansing, N. Y. It is common during 

 the migrations both at Ginnell, Iowa and Oberlin. ( ). Its 

 song once learned, there is no difficulty in recognizing it. 



534. Plectrophenax nivalis.' Snowflake. 



Of all the sparrows, Snowflake is undoubtedly the one 

 which w^e are most glad to see. Sweeping down upon us 

 like the advance guard of an arm}^ themselves the fore- 

 runner of the driving snow-storm, they are life in the death 

 cold. Their songs are like angel voices from the black 

 angry clouds. It is truly an inspiration to watch an im- 

 mense flock, such as sweeps down upon Milwaukee and 

 Meridian, Wis., and Lansing and Pittsburgh, jST. Y., as it 

 swirls and eddies in the van of the storm among the first 

 falling flakes. In Ohio I have never seen such a sight, but 

 in Iowa it is not rare. Their southern range is about 39", 

 rarely they have gone as far as 35" ; hence our southern 

 observers could hardly expect to find this interesting spar- 

 row at their homes. 



536. CaJcarius lappouicus. Lapland Longspur. 



It is commonly considered to be true that Snowflake is 

 replaced by this Longspur at the south : but there is no note 

 made of it by Southern observers. Doubtless they are too 

 far south. It is an irregular winter visitor at Milwaukee, 

 but common a,t Meridian, Wis., from Oct. to Apr. in stubble 

 fields, occurring in large fiocks. It is also common at 

 Grinnell, Iowa, during the winter, but rare at Oberlin, O. 



537. Calcarius pictiis. Smith's Longspur. 



This Longspur seems to have escaped our observers 

 entirely. It is so common at Grinnell, Iowa, during the 

 winter and late into the spring that it is a conspicuous 



