V ° 1 i907 :iV ] Ferry, Notes on Winter Birds. 127 



while on the wing. Several times a large flock of Siskins were 

 seen to alight on the top branches of a low pine and fairly cover it, 

 like a swarm of bees. Unlike the Crossbills they were observed 

 to feed industriously on coneless branches of pines and spruces. 

 The object sought was probably the dry resinous aments of these 

 conifers. They frequent patches of thistle and seed-bearing weeds 

 and work very actively and in perfect silence. They decoy readily 

 to an imitation of their note, and will alight fearlessly within a few 

 feet of the observer. The specimens secured were in excellent 

 condition, quite fat, and the immature birds formed a large pro- 

 portion of every flock. 



Passerina nivalis. Snowflake. — A flock of six Snowflakes 

 were seen October 28 on the wide, sandy beach at Lake Forest. 

 From the high bluff overlooking, they could be seen running 

 rapidly from one scanty tuft of grass to another. On November 5, 

 while the writer and a companion were out on Lake Michigan in a 

 row-boat, a small white bird suddenly appeared out of the envelop- 

 ing haze and passed within three oar-lengths of us. It was clearly 

 identified as a snowflake. These birds were seen again on the 

 9th of November, and were last seen at Jackson Park on December 

 15. They are locally a common winter resident here. When 

 alarmed they quickly take flight, and they have an interesting 

 habit of returning to the spot from which they were frightened, 

 after having apparently vanished. 



Calcarius lapponicus. Lapland Longspur. — Longspurs were 

 very abundant this fall. On November 5, a flock of birds uttering 

 the familiar longspur note passed overhead flying due south. 

 Similar flocks were observed on the 9th and 17th, and on the 18th 

 four or five large flocks flew in a northeasterly direction, over the 

 Government Pier at Waukegan, which extends three or four hun- 

 dred yards into the lake. It is reasonably certain that a large 

 majority of such flocks were composed of C. lapponicus, as C. 

 pictus is irregular and not common in this region while lapponicus 

 is just the reverse. The latter often occur in vast flocks. The 

 extensive low prairies south and west of Chicago are a favorite 

 resort of this bird. 



Calcarius pictus. Smith's Longspur. — A flock of forty of this 

 species was observed on November 29 by Gerard A. Abbott on the 

 Golf Links at Jackson Park. He flushed them three times, getting 



