" I8!w'."'] PliOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 68!) 



beny: Enormously abuudaut iu the spring, aud less so in the fall 

 migration; plains south of the Souris River; abundant in spring 

 (Thompson). Cumberland House, late in May/Richardson). Trout 

 Lake Station and Severn House (Murray). 



On May 13, 1882, while crossing the Barren Plain south of the Souris 

 River we met with immense hordes of lougspurs, thousands and tens 

 of thousands of them; flock after flock, or rather wave after wave, in 

 the flood that seemed never entirely to cease passing over. On all sides, 

 as far as the eye could reach, they were to be seen stretching away into 

 dim distance, like swarms of bees or gnats. Each wave of the flood 

 seemed to fly on low ovei the plains for a short distance, and then 

 settle on the ground to run about and forage among the bunch grass 

 while the next wave passed overhead. But, in all their flights and 

 changes of front and pace, one thing was noticeable, they kept a steady 

 onward mov^ement to the north. They are chiefly of two kinds, the 

 preponderating species, the Lap Lougspurs, and the next in numbers, 

 the Black-breasted or G. ornatus, and the last the Painted Lougspurs, 

 scarcely represented at ail. 



September 6, 1883. The fall flower, the gentian, has just come out in 

 great numbers. As 1 crossed to a part of the prairie where 1 might see 

 their exquisite blue in perfection, a small flock of longspurs rose from 

 my feet, uttering a doleful whistle. Two sad signs these; both say 

 plainly, summer is gone and fall is short and passing away. Even now 

 these longspurs were flying from the frost, and as often as I put them 

 ui) they flew, not hai)hazard, but before me, or over my head, always 

 to the south; every move must help them iu their journey to their win- 

 ter home. 



May 15, 1881 : The Lap Longspurs are here again in thousands. High 

 in the air they fly in long straggling flocks, all singing together, a thou- 

 sand voices, a tornado of whistling. Over the prairie they go, on to the 

 newly sown fields, and here the flock drops a feeler, a sort of anchor or 

 pivot, around which the whole body swings; then lifting again their 

 anchor they wheel about and perform two or three evolutions, again 

 drop the anchor and at length form a dense close column, and ceasing 

 whistling they swoop down to the field to forage. When si)ruug they 

 rise in a dense body, but at ouce spread out and begin the merry 

 whistling. It is a peculiar sound of multitudinous melody, but not loud, 

 and in some respects like the sleigh-bell chorus of the blackbird. 



In the heat of the day these birds may be seen sitting in long rows in 

 the shadow of each post in the fence; as the sun moves around they 

 keep edging along to avoid his rays. They do not seem to like the heat 

 and no doubt will soon go. 



May 10 : Very warm, 87° in the shade. Saw on the prairie a strange 

 bird that might have been a female longspur, excepting that it had no 

 white on the tail that I could see. 



May 17 : Enormous flocks of longspurs are stdl to be seen about the 



