146 XORTII AMERICAN BIRDS. . 



These hirds reacli Labrador early in June, when the male birds are very 

 j)ugnacious, and enuaue tVei^uently in very singular tiglits, in which often 

 several others besides the first parties join, tiuttering, biting, and tumbling 

 over in the manner of the European House Sparrow. The male is described 

 as singing sweetly while on tlie wing, but its song is compardtively short. It 

 will also sing while on the ground, but less frequently, and with less fulness. 

 Its call-note is quite mellow, and is at times so altered, in a ventriloquial 

 maimer, as to seem like that of another bird. As soon as the young are 

 hatched their song ceases. It is said to feed on grass-seeds, the blossoms 

 of small plants, and insects, often catching the latter on the wing, and 

 following them to a considerable distance. It also gathers minute crusta- 

 ceans on the sea-shore. 



^Ir. Iiidgway found this species abundant over the arid wastes of the inte- 

 rior, and, in many localities, it was almost the only bird to be found. In its 

 habits he could observe no difterences l>etween this bird and the alpcstris. 

 He met with their nests and eggs in the Truckee Reservation, June 3. The 

 nest was embedded in tlie hard, grassy ground, beneath a small scraggy sage- 

 bush, on the mem, between the river and the mountains. 



^Ir. J. K. Lord mentions that, ha^'ing encamped at Cedar Springs on the 

 Great Plains of the Columbia, where the small stream was the only water 

 within a long distance, he became interested in watching the movements of 

 these I^arks. As evening approached they came boldly in among the mules 

 and men, intense thirst overcoming all sense of fear. He found these hand- 

 some little birds very plentiful throughout British Columbia. They w^ere 

 nesting very early on those sandy plains, even before the snow had left the 

 ground. He saw young Hedglings early in May. 



A single specimen of this species was taken at Godhaab, Greenland, in 

 Octol)er, 1835. . •* s 



Eggs from Labrador are much* larger in size than those from Wisconsin. 

 Two eggs from the first, one obtained by Mr. Thienemann, the other by Mr. 

 George Peck, of Burlingtcui, Vt., measure .93 and .94 of an inch in length by 

 .71 in breadth ; while some from tlie West are onlv .83 in length and .63 

 in breadth, their greatest length being .90, and their largest breadth .69 of 

 an incli. In their ground-color and markings, eggs from both localities vary 

 about alike. The ground-col(»r varies from a purplish-w^hite to a dark gray, 

 while the spots are in some a brownish-lavender, in others a brown, and, 

 (|uite frequently, an olive-brown. In some they are in larger, scattered 

 blotches ; while in others they are in very fine minute dots so thickly and so 

 uniformly diffused as almost to conceal the ground. , 



