KIMXCJILMD.K — Till-: KINCIIKS. ^[•j 



JIaUITs. This sjMMMj's was first <tl>tiiiii«'<| hy Sir Jnlm Ijiclianlsnirs jciity 

 jUmI tIrscrilKMl liv Swaiiisnii in tin- Fimnn liturnl i-A nn in mni. It was oh- 

 st'i'ViMJ ass(H'i;itiiiL!; witli tlir Laplnml r>imtiii,u;s mi tin- hanks nf tin- Sa^katrlic- 

 wsiii, Imt no inroiniatinn was nlttaiinMl in rcirard t«i its ln('iMlin,i;-lial»its. No 

 spccinn'ns in tlic niatmc plinnauc air known to have Ik.'lmi olttaincd in the 

 Tnitcd States, hut Itinls in tlic inimatnif plumage arc not iintVcijnt'iit. in 

 furly sprinn, throiiLjIiout Illinois. Mr. Au«liil>*»n, in L'oni|iany with Mi. Har- 

 ris and Mr. Iit'll, ohtaiiinl sjMcinn'iis of tlicst' hinis neai I'Mwardsx ille, and 

 iloscrilx'd thf'in as a new s|M'ci('.s. Mr. Utll stat«'s, in irnard to thcs** l>ir<ls, 

 that he round them \«'ry alaindant on the low j»rairie near a lake, a lew miles 

 from Kdwardsvilh'. They wcic L:«'nerally in larme flocks, and when once 

 on liie ground they hc^an to scj>aratc. They ran very nimhly, in a mannei- 

 resemltlini; that of the (Irass Finch, and when they aro.^e, which they rarely 

 di<l unless ihey were nearly aj>proaclu'd, they uttered a sharp click, repeated 

 several times in (pii( k succession, and moved with an easy undulating motion 

 for a short distance and then aliuhted very suddenly, seemiim to fall ]ierpen- 

 dicularly several fiM't to the j^round. 'i'liey jucferred the spots where the 

 <;mss was shortest. When in the iiii' they th'W in circles, to and fro, for a few 

 minutes, and then alighted, k(»eping u]» a constant chirping or call, somewhat 

 like that of the IJed-l'oll. 



These birds were (thserved in large numher^ at Fort Anderson, and on tlie 

 Lower Amlerson IJiver, hv Mr. MacFailane, and a laiue numlier of their 

 nests obtained. These were all on the ground, and usually in open s]>ace<, 

 but also in the vicinity of trees. The usual numher of eggs lound in a ne<t 

 appears to have been four. The nests, for the most part, wi'n? ce'istructed 

 of fine dry grasses, carefully arranged, and lined with down, feathers, or fim-r 

 materials similar to tho.se of the outer jtortions. In a few there were no feath- 

 ers ; in others, l'eathei*s in dilferent proportions : and in a few the down and 

 feathers eomjwsed the chief })ortion of the nest, with only a few leaves as a 

 base to the nest. They were sometimes sunk in excavations made by the 

 birds, (»r i>laced in a tussock of grass, and, in one instance, placetl in the 

 midst of a bed of Labrador tea. 



They were also obtainetl at Fort Yukon, at the mouth of Porcupine TJiver, 

 by Strachan Jones. They were much more abundant in the ^Lukenzie Kiver 

 district. 



S})ecimens of this bird, in the fall plumage, were obtained from Fort 

 Simj)Son, when; Mr. U. II. LN)ss states that it a]»]>ears on its way north in 

 ]^Iav. Thev resort to the fi«dds around the fort in search of grain. Although 

 these birds keej) entirely apart from the P. nirolix, Mr. IIoss has frequently 

 observed several P. /(tjtpotu'i fts as.snciating with them. 



When their nests are ap])roachetl, the female ([uietly sli])s off', while the 

 male bird iikiv be seen h«»j>ping or Hying from tree to tree in the neighbor- 

 hood of the nest, and will at times du all he can to induce intruders to with- 

 draw from the neiuhborhooJ. 



