Land Birds of Sac County^ Iowa 125 



often come within a few feet of the plow. In spring, my first seen 

 dates are from March 15, 1914, to April 28 in 1910. 



Bronzed Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula aeneus). 



This species is a common migrant and breeder, and an occa- 

 sional rare winter resident. A small flock wintered in the years 

 1911 and 1913, roosting in some white pine trees just north of 

 the town of Wall Lake. In other years the first seen dates are 

 from March 11 to March 29. On my home farm this species quit 

 nesting in the soft maple trees of the grove when these reached 

 a height of from forty to fifty feet, and then nested in the trees 

 of the orchard from ten to twenty feet from the ground. During 

 August, they are often found in mixed flocks with redwings, feed- 

 ing from the grain shocks and corn fields. 



Redpoll (AcantJiis linaria Unaria). 



I have seen this species only one winter. I first identified it 

 December 3, 1910, when I saw a small flock. It was tolerably com- 

 mon all that winter. 



Goldfinch (Astragalinus tristis tristis). 



The goldfinch is a rare winter resident, a common migrant, 

 and a tolerably common breeder. I have seen it in mid-winter only 

 twice and the same number of times in winter plumage in early 

 spring. The first migrants in summer plumage were seen from 

 May 3 to May 20. 



Pine Siskin (Spiniis phius). 



I have seen this species only twice. On September 2, 1908, a 

 small flock of eight or ten were eating spruce tree seeds in our 

 front yard. On May 13, 1914, I saw one pine siskin in company 

 with a female goldfinch, and later in the day, about twenty siskins 

 in a flock by themselves among the trees in town. 



Snowflake or Snow Bunting {Plectroplienax nivalis nivalis). 



Specimen in the Smith collection. The snowflake is very rare 

 and irregular in its occurrence. On January 17, 1910, during a 

 very severe blizzard, a flock of about one hundred alighted for a 

 short time on a straw stack in our yard. On December 25, 1911, 1 

 saw one which acted as though it was lost. Dr. A. S. Hayden re- 

 ported seeing a flock one winter, also during very severe weather. 



Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicics lapponicus) . 



This species is a regular and common fall migrant, a rare to 

 tolerably common winter resident, and an abundant but very 

 erratic spring migrant. In the spring migration, it travels in 

 huge flocks, flock after flock passing northward and all going over 

 in one day. My first seen dates in spring are few, February 24, 



