BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 257 



219 [538] Calcarius ornatus (Towns.). 

 Chestnut-collared Longspur. 



Accidental visitor from the west. 



There is only one record for the County and this, too, is the sole record for 

 the State, namely, of an adult male shot by me at Magnolia on July 28th, 1876. 1 

 The bird was found in a grass field about half a mile from the sea, and his 

 white-marked tail and peculiar notes while flying were recorded at the time. 

 The specimen was presented by me to the Boston Society of Natural History in 

 whose mounted collection it now is. The bird was in very worn plumage. 

 This was the first instance of its capture east of Kansas. The only other record 

 of its capture in New England is of one taken at Scarboro, Maine, on August 

 13th, 1886, by my near neighbor at Ipswich Dr. J. L. Goodale. 2 



[539] Rhynchophanes mccownii (Lavvr.). McCown's Longspur. This bird was recorded 

 from Ipswich, January 7th, 1S77, by Maynard 3 on the basis of a specimen bought bv Messrs. 

 E. A. and O. Bangs in the Boston Market and said to have been shot at Ipswich. There is no 

 evidence, however, that it came from Essex County, and it is not given among the authenticated 

 birds of the State in the Howe and Allen list (p. 127). 



220 [540] Pocecetes gramineus (Gmel.). 

 Vesper Sparrow ; Bay-winged Bunting ; Grass Finch. 



Abundant summer resident ; March 27 to October 24 (November 9). 

 Eggs : May 14 to June 10. 



The late November record was of a bird seen at Swampscott on November 

 9th, 1878, by J. A. Jeffries. 



This delightful singer is very common in the open farming regions of Essex 

 County, and pours forth its song from some favorite perch on post or building 

 day after day. The bird runs as well as hops, and occasionally it scratches 

 vigorously like the Fox Sparrow and others. It is common enough to see one 

 parent acting the part of a wounded bird to draw off the intruder from the young, 



1 T. M. Brewer : Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, vol. 2, p. 78, 1877. 



* J. L. Goodale: Auk, vol. 4, p. 77, 1887. 



3 C. J. Maynard: Birds of Eastern North America, p. 516, 1889. 



