516 MCCOWN'S LONGSPUR. 



DESClUrilON OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nksts, placed on the grciund, composed of jrrass. Ehgs, four or five in number, oval in form, grayish 

 white in color, spotted and blotched with dark brown. There are shell blotchings of purplish. Dimensions, 

 from .53 by .70 to .GO by .80. 



HABITS. 



This is iiLso a distinctively ])rairie species, hut a speciiiieii was taken at Magnolia, 

 Mass., Julv 28, ISTC. 



GENUS XXV. KIIYNCIIOPIIANES. THE THICK-BILLED LONGSPURS. 



Gen. Ch. Similar to the Loiigspurs, but with the bill prop:)rtionately much larger and thicker. Hind 

 claw no longer than its toe. We have a single species within our limits. 



RHYNCHOPHANES MCCOWNII. 

 McCowns Longspur. 



DESCRIPTION . 



Sp. Ch. Size, rather small. Form, robust. Color. Adult male in summer. Top of head and broad 

 crescent on breast, black. Middle wing covert, chestnut, remaining upper parts, brown, with the feathers 

 edged with yellowish, which becomes ashy on the back of neck and 

 rump. Beneath, white tinged with rufous. Tail, excepting central 

 feathers, white nearly to base, each feather, excepting outer pair, 

 broadly tipped with brown. Sides of head, ashy, with a poorly- 

 defined maxillary stripe. Bill, reddish brown, black-tipped. Iris and 

 feet, brown. Adult female, lacks the black crown and maxillary 

 stripe, and the crescent on breast is only faintly indicated. The white 

 tail patch is more restricted. 



OBSERVATIONS. Fk- 55. Head of Adult Male, 



McCown's Longspur in Winter. 

 Distinguished at once from all of the other Longspurs by the thick 



bill, short, stout form, and white area of the tail. Occurs in summer on the Great Plains north to the 



Saskatchewan region, migrating southward in winter quite to Mexico. Accidental in Massachusetts. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Length, 5.80 to 6.00; stretch, 10.50 to ILOU; wing, -2.20 to 2.60; tail, 2.20 to 2.40; bill, .42 to .44 ; 

 tarsus, .67 to .75. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nhsts, placed on the ground in open places, loosely constructed of dry grasses, lined with finer grasses, 

 hair and feathers. Eggs, four to six in number, oval in form, dull greenish in color, spotted and dotted with 

 reddish brown, of varying shades, and black. 



HABITS. 



Like most of its nearest allies McCown's Longspur is a hird of the wide spread prairie 

 lands west of the Mississippi. Its only claim to a place in our fauna is through a single 

 specimen taken by Mr. Edw. A. Bangs, at Ipswich, Mass., Jan. 7th, 1877. 



