FKINdlLMD.K- TIIK FINCH K??. 517 



the l)ii(ls were .staited ii|» l»v ImiMlriMls mi fvcrv walk (»v» r tlic island. Finiii 

 this lie iMl'i'is thai they iniist We very eaivlully c-oiiifalcd. He olh'ii scai( lu'<l 

 for ihciii, Imt always with the s;iine result. Mr. llaunister regarded this 

 speeies as deeidedlv the l)est suii«ister of its lainilv. 



In the iar North it is au extremely ahundant spt-cies tVom (»ne (xcan to 

 the other, in the winter niovinj^^ i'arther simth, to the I'liited States, in lart^e 

 Hoeks. It has not heeii found in Calil'orni;,, hut in the eentral ami eastern 

 regions lias heen ohtained as far south as Leavenworth, Kiin , llacine, Wis., 

 l>(j.ston, and Xt;w ^^>rk. It is stated l>y ditferent oi»servers, that, like the 

 Lark, it sings only while in motion in the air, or while suspended, and that 

 its notes are agreeahle and melodious. 



According to liichard.-^on, they hreed in moist meadows on the shores of 

 the Arctic Sea, the nest heing placed in a small hillock, among nu»ss and 

 stones. It is com]»os('d externally of dry stems of grass, interwoven to a 

 considemhle thickness, and line«l verv neutlv and ccunpactlv with dt'cr's hair. 

 The eggs, seven in nund)er, he descrihes as pale ochie-yellow, sj»otted with 

 brown. Sir James IJoss found them hv n(» means numerous in the hiicher 

 northern latitudes, and ohtained one nest, containing live eggs, in July. 



According to IIoUh)!!, this hird is connnon along the shons of Ixith Xurtli 

 and South (Jreenland. Thev reach (lodliaah in the he^inning of Mav, and 

 Godhaven a month later. Their migrations do not take place all at once, 

 but thev are constantly arriving durinu the month. It remains in S»»uth 

 Greenland until the beginning of St'ptend)er, and longer if the deep snows 

 do not drive it away. This bird is never met on shii)l)oard until the ves.sels 

 are in Davis Strait, i»roving that their migrations nnist be from America. 

 The CJreenlanders call it Narksamatak {inhabitant of the ]ilainsj, — an a]>- 

 ju'opriate name, as it only lives on the lowlands near the .sea-shore, where it 

 builds its nest in the manner of the Lark, in the gra.ss, or among the lichens. 

 Its five eggs, of a dirty olive-color spotted with brown, are smaller than those 

 of P. nivalis. The song of the male bird, as it hovers in the air <tr rocks ow 

 a swavinji twit;, is very chnir and melodious. It is even known as the Gi-een- 

 land Nightingale. Its fo(Kl is S(mm1s, and it is not known to .seek insect- 

 larva3 on the hou.ses of the Gi-eenlanders, as does the P. /iir<i/i.<i. In their 

 winter dress they all resemble the female in her summer jdumage, only in 

 the male some black is .seen in the head-feathers. 



Fabricius describes its euus as five or six in nund»er, of a reddisli-<4rav 

 with brownish sijots. De'jland (lescril)es their iiround-color as an ashv-gniv, 

 covered with spots of light brown, with lines and sjiots of deep brown, and 

 also of clear black. 



F!ggs from Anderson TJiver exhibit great variations in their ap]>earanc(s 

 more from the ditference in the distribution of their spots than from varia- 

 tions in colors. Wlan-e distinctly visible, the ground-color a]>])ears to be of 

 yellowish-gmy, frcMpiently so thickly s[M)tted as not to be recognizable. The 

 blotches are of various shadi»s of Ijrown, with shadings of olive, purple, or 



