NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



placed high up in evergreen trees, artfully concealed in the thick tufts of 

 foliage. Common as the bird is, the nests and eggs have seldom come to 



the notice of naturalists. Hab. North America from Atlantic to Pacific. 



186. Snow Bunting — plectrophanes nivalis. White, in some flecked 

 all over with neutral tint ; shell markings overlaid by deep brown spots 

 and scratches, especially at the greater end ; in other cases a heavy wreath 

 of confluent blotches of dull brown around the larger end, and again the 

 whole surface is mottled with pale chocolate; four or five in number and 

 average .90 by. 65. The nest of this bird is placed on the ground, built 

 of grass with a lining of feathers. It is a substantial structure with walls 

 an inch thick, and a deep cavity. The nest is often hidden by 

 tussocks of grass or slabs of rock. Breeds in the far North. It is well 

 named "Snow-flake." 



Hab. Arctic America and Greenland; south in winter to northern States. 



187. Lapland Longspur — centrophanes lapponicus. Apparent green- 

 ish-gray ground, with a heavy mottling of chocolate-brown, rather pointed; 

 four to six eggs are laid by this species, size .80 by .62. The Lapland 

 Longspur breeds in the Arctic regions. The nest is built on the ground, 

 of mosses, grass, and a few feathers. 



Hab. Arctic regions of both Hemispheres; in America south in winter to Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Kan- 

 sa.s and Colorado. 



188. Smith's Longspur — centrophanes pictus. Light clay color, 

 marked with obscure blotches of lavender and darker lines, dots and 

 blotches of dark purplish brown ; four or five, size .80 by. 65. The nest 

 is usually placed on the ground or sunk in excavations. It is made of fine 

 dry grasses, and lined with down and feathers. The Painted Longspur 

 breeds in the Arctic regions. 



Hab. Prairie.s of Illinois in winter, in summer north to the Saskatchewan. 



189. Chestnut collared Longspur — centrophanes ornatus. Gray, or 

 grayish-white, more or less clouded and mottled obscurely, with purplish- 

 gray, dark brown and almost black ; usually four in number, sometimes 

 five, and measure about .75 by .58. This bird breeds abundantly on the 

 prairies of Kansas and Dakota. The nest of the Black-bellied Longspur 

 is placed on the ground and composed of fine stems and grasses. 



Hab. Interior of British America; whole of the Missouri region; south through the Rocky Mountain 

 region to the table lands of Mexico. 



190. McCown's Longspur — rhynchophanes maccowni. Dull white, with 

 obscure and rather sparse mottling and darker markings of purplish and 

 reddish-brown; a single egg measures .80 by .60. This bird is found in 

 different parts of the interior plains of the United States, between the 

 Rocky Mountains and the Missouri river and the lower tributaries of the 

 Mississippi, extending from New Mexico and Texas northward ; during the 



