LAPLAND LONGSPUR. 257 



The aJult female is somewhat smaller than the male. In s^pring she 

 has the top of the hcail, the shoulders, back, and wing-coverts brownish 

 black, the feathers being edged with rusty ; the sides of the head black- 

 ish intermixed with rusty ; over the eyebrows a whitish line, as in the 

 male, tinged with rusty ; the nucha and rump are brownish rusty, with 

 small black spots ; the throat is white, encircled with brown ; remaining 

 inferior parts white : wings and tail as in the other sex. 



The male in autumn and winter has the bill brownish yellow ; irides 

 and feet brownish. Head black, varied with small spots of rusty, auric- 

 ulars partly encircled with black feathers ; throat yellowish white, finely 

 streaked with deep black. Fore-neck and breast black, mixed with 

 grayish white ; the line passing through the eye down the breast yel- 

 lowish white, becoming darker on the breast ; lower surface from the 

 breast white, spotted on the flanks. Wings deep blackish chestnut, 

 crossed by two white lines ; primaries on the inside at tip margined with 

 white. Tail forked, brownish black, all the feathers margined with 

 rusty, the two outer with a white cuneiform spot at tip. 



The dress of the female in autumn and winter is as follows : head, 

 and neck above, shoulders and hack, grayish rusty, with blackish spots, 

 the rusty predominating on the neck and rump ; the superciliar line 

 whitish rusty, uniting with a white streak from the angle of the bill : 

 throat white each side, with a brownish line ; upper part of the breast 

 grayish, spotted with black ; inferior parts white ; the flanks with longi- 

 tudinal blackish marks. 



The young of both sexes, during the first year, are of a yellowish 

 brown above, tinged with grayish, streaked and spotted with blackish, 

 the shafts of the feathers being of that color ; the cheeks and auricu- 

 lars are brownish, the latter mixed with black, a small blackish spot, 

 that spreads as the bird advances in age, is already visible near the 

 opening of the ears ; above the eye is a broad streak of pale brownish ; 

 the throat is yellowish white, slightly streaked with brown, and with a 

 blackish line each side coming from the corner of the lower mandible ; 

 the lower portion of the neck and breast is of a dingy, reddish white, 

 more intense, and thickly spotted with blackish brown on the breast and 

 flanks ; the belly and vent are almost pure whitish. The wing-coverts 

 and secondaries are blackish brown, margined with dark rusty, and 

 tipped with white : the primaries are dusky brown, paler at the edge. 

 The tail-feathers are dusky, and also margined with deep rusty ; the 

 outer bearing a reddish white conic spot, which is merely longitudinal, 

 and narrow, on the next. The bill is entirely of a dirty yellowish 

 brown ; the feet are dusky brown : the hind nail, though still longer 

 than its toe, is much shorter, and not quite so straight. 



The figures represent an old male, and a young female. 

 Vol. IIL— 17 



