ALASKA. 177 



this period the male is assiduous in bringiug food, and, at fre- 

 (jueut iutervals, siugs liis simple but sweet song, rising, as he 

 begins it, bigU up iu the air, as the skylark does when caroling, 

 and, with the end of the stave, drop[)ing suddenly to the 

 ground again. The young are early i)rovided with a gray 

 downy coating, which is speedily replaced by a i)lumage resem- 

 bling that of the adult female, and, in less than four weeks 

 from the day of hatching, the little snaguiskie is as big as its 

 parents, and weighs more. 



" The food of this species consists of the various seeds and 

 insects peculiar to the rough, higher grounds it frequents. It 

 never flies about iu flocks, and at this season cannot be called 

 gregarious, like the Lai)laud longspur, wit'Ii which it is asso- 

 ciated on these islands." 



153. Plecti'oplianes lappoiiiciis, (L.) Selby. — Lapland Longspur^ 

 ■■ Karesch-uavie .suaguiskie."' 



We give a description of the breeding-plumage of the female, 

 probablj' not generally known : Upper parts of the body, 

 wings, and tail almost precisely as in the male. Cervical collar 

 evident, but not sharply defined, nor so rich in color. Black of 

 the crown variegated with pale tips of the feathers ; white of the 

 supra-ocular and post-auricular lines tinged with bufi"; no con- 

 tinuous pure black on the sides of the head, chin, or throat; 

 sides of the head blacki.sh, interrupted with grayish auriculars ;. 

 throat similarly varied, but chin left nearly pure white, the 

 pattern of the black which occurs in the male being thus clearly 

 indicated, but interrupted and obscured ; sides of the breast and 

 belly with disconnected, sparse, sharp, slender, dark-brown 

 streaks, instead of the jiure black, continuous, broad and 

 heavy stripes of the male; other under parts as in the male. Bill 

 obscure yellowish, dusky at tip ; feet dark brown, but not black. 

 Dimensions slightly inferior to those of the male. 



The eggs of the Lapland longspur are extremely variable in 

 coloration — few more so. They range from a nearly uniform 

 dark chocolate-brown, (much like those of a marsh-wren,) 

 through a lighter chocolate in innumerable dots on a grayish- 

 brown ground, to a peculiar browni.sh-white ground, variously" 

 clouded and smirched with chocolate, and having, besides, 

 irregular sharp spots, scratches, and straggling lines of black- 

 ish brown. The general aspect of these eggs is like that of an 

 oriO'e's or blackbird's. They measure .80 to .00 in length by 



12 AL 



