396 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



April twelfth. Minot mentions a large flock being seen on Mt. 

 Katahdin in early August, 1869. They occur in small flocks 

 of ten to thirty or forty along the country roads and in the 

 barnyards and fields, while along the coast they sometimes 

 occur in flocks of hundreds in the salt marshes and along the 

 beaches. 



The call notes uttered while in flight or when running along 

 the ground are characteristic and readily recognizable when 

 once known. The notes are a characteristic whistle, hard to 

 put on paper, a peculiar "chirr" and a softly warbled call of 

 a few notes. My attention has often been called to a flock of 

 these birds on a winter's day while driving along the highway 

 by hearing their call and seeing them appear in their leisurely 

 rather undulating flight, dropping at the wayside like a veri- 

 table fall of large snowflakes. 



They run along the highways feeding on the undigested 

 portions of grain found in horse droppings, and likewise resort 

 to manure heaps in fields and barnyards. They eat all sorts 

 of grass and weed seeds such as Polygommi, Ambrosia^ Chen- 

 opodiurn, Ixophoriis, Calamagrostis and almost any accessible 

 seeds of similar nature. Along the coast they eat very small 

 mollusks and crustaceans as well as grass and weed seeds of 

 the characteristic coastal plants. Though common through- 

 out the State at the proper season, they are always most abun- 

 dant along the coast. 



In their Arctic homes the nests are built on the ground, 

 being composed of grasses, fine sedges and similar material, 

 mixed with moss and lichens and warmly lined with feathers. 

 Davie records a nest containing four eggs in the collection of 

 Mr. Norris which was taken in Iceland, May 30, 1882. These 

 eggs were pale greenish white, speckled and spotted, and most 

 heavily so near the larger end, with russet and lilac gray. 

 These eggs measure 0.84 x 0.61, 0.88 x 0.67, 0.88 x 0.61, 

 0.86 x 0.64. Chapman describes the eggs as pale bluish white, 

 thinly marked with umber or heavily spotted or washed with 



