406 CAMERON, I >'/' ids of Custer & Dawson Counties, Mont. [oct" 



of the prairie. I have never seen more than three eggs or three nestlings, 

 although Coues gives the number as four. Often, when riding over the 

 plain, my horse almost stepped upon the sitting female which slipped, 

 fluttering, from her nest into the depths of the surrounding grass. Here 

 the bird would remain invisible but for her maternal anxiety which 

 causes her to hover repeatedly on the wing, and if the horse is moved only 

 a few yards, she at once settles down upon her eggs. The young are 

 generally hatched out during the first week of July, when the parents of 

 this species and the next (R. mccowni) run about in the herbage like 

 mice. If the nest is actually discovered, they hover fearlessly above the 

 intruder, and make impetuous dives into the grass. At this time, the 

 females of both species share with Desert Horned Larks the habit of tunning 

 long distances in the road ruts directly in front of horses. The young are 



at first covered with buff-colored down, hut, when full-fledged (about the 

 middle of July) become very dark gray, inclining to black, with while 

 stripes on the wings. At pairing time, and during incubation, the males 

 indulge in extraordinary I ricks of Sight, "singing as they fly, rising to a 

 great height and letting themselves down with the wings held like para- 

 chutes; they curiously resemble butterflies when so engaged." 1 



By the second week in September the males have losl their nuptial dress, 

 and before the end of the month the birds associate in immense (locks with 

 McCown's Longspurs and Horned Larks. Early in October they leave 

 for the South. 



133. Rhynchophanes mccownii. McCown's Longspur.— Summer 

 resident; abundant in both counties. Arrives in immense flocks towards 

 the end of April, and is seemingly a most punctual migrant, as my notes 

 give April 26, 27, and 29, for 1897, '98, and '99 as the dates of first, appear- 

 ance. The birds, which scatter over the ground as they alight, hide in the 

 horse and cattle hoof prints, or other holes, and allow themselves to be 

 almost trodden upon before rising. A large flock was driven into the 

 shelter of my ranch buildings, near Terry, during a terrific thunder storm 

 on May 15, 1894. Stones were whirled about and struck against the 

 ranch house, when I he thoroughly soaked birds received such a buffeting 

 thai they were barely able to fly. McCown's Longspur is in all respects 

 similar in habits to the previous bird (C. ornatus) excepting that in my 

 experience the female R. mccownii lays four eggs instead of three. On 

 June 22, 1S«.)1, 1 had ample opportunity for observing this species, as, my 

 horse having run away, 1 was compelled to walk home, ten miles across 

 the prairie. My way was enlivened by the handsome males, which hung 

 above me, before sinking into the grass with a burst of song, in strong 

 contrast to the dowdy, brown females which 1 frequently flushed from 

 I heir nests. The eggs differ a good deal; the ground color may be green or 

 white, and an egg may be entirely white, unmarked. Some of the young 

 could fly feebly by July 10. 



(To be concluded.) 



1 Key to North American Birds, by Elliott Coues, i SS7, p. 359. 



