FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 385 



fellows, and pouring out as he flew his sweet, voluble song with as much 

 spirit as ever Skylark has in the sunniest days of June. As long as the 

 snow lasts the Snowflake stays, and as soon as the ground grows bare 

 and there is promise of better days, this bird of winter betakes himself 

 again to the north as far as the most northern habitation of man, and 

 ' there builds his nest. ERNEST THOMPSON SETON. 



536. Calcarius lapponicus lapponicus (Linn,). LAPLAND LONG- 

 SPUR. Hind toe-nail as long as or longer than toe. Ad. <? in summer. Head, 

 neck, throat, and breast black ; a buff y line behind the eye ; nape rufous ; back 

 streaked with black and ochraceous- and cream-buff; tail fuscous, the two 

 outer feathers with more or less white ; belly white ; sides streaked with black. 

 Ad. 9 in summer. Upperparts streaked with black, rufous, ochraceous- and 

 cream-buff; nape ochraceous-buff, the color some- 

 times concealed by the tips of the feathers; tail 

 fuscous, the outer one or two feathers marked with 

 white; underparts white, the breast and sides 

 streaked with black and ochraceous-buff. & in 

 winter. Similar to 9 in summer, but upperparts 

 blacker, nape more rufous, breast more heavily 

 marked with black, most of the feathers black at 

 the base. 9 in winter. Similar to 9 in summer, 

 but upperparts duller, nape with little or no 

 ochraceous L 6'25; W. 375; T 2;55; B '40. FlG . 102 . Hind toe of Lap . 



Remarks. In some plumages this bird bears a land Longspur. 



general resemblance to certain Sparrows, but 



differs from them in having the hind toe-nail as long as or longer than the 

 toe. 



Range. N. Hemisphere. In N. A. breeds from about lat. 73 on Arctic 

 islands, and w. Greenland, and from lat. 75 in e. Greenland s. to limit of 

 trees in Mackenzie (at least as far w. as long. 120), cen. Keewatin, and n. 

 Ungava; winters from s. Que., and n. cen. U. S. irregularly s. to the middle 

 States and Tex., rarely Ky. and S. C. 



Washington, W. V., one instance, Dec. Ossining, W. V., casual. Cam- 

 bridge, one record. N. Ohio, tolerably common, W. V., Nov. 15-Apl. 25. 

 Glen Ellyn, common W. V., Oct. 16 May 16. SE. Minn., common 

 W. V. 



Nest, of grasses and moss, lined with grasses, on the ground. Eggs, 4-6, 

 bluish white, almost obscured by a uniform grayish brown, *82 x '60. Date, 

 Pt. Barrow, Alaska, June 6. 



In the east, Lapland Longspurs are generally found among flocks 

 of Shorelarks or Snowflakes, but on the western plains they occur in 

 great numbers. "High in the air they fly in long, straggling flocks, all 

 singing together; a thousand voices, a tornado of whistling. . . . When 

 in the fields they have a curious habit of squatting just behind some 

 clod, and, as their colors are nearly matched to the soil, they are not 

 easily observed, nor will they move until you are within a few feet; they 

 then run a few feet and squat again. ..." (Seton). 



One of the most remarkable bird tragedies of which we have any 

 knowledge is recorded by Dr. T. S. Roberts (Auk, 1907, pp. 369-377) as 

 occurring in southwestern Minnesota on March 13, 1904, when at least 

 several million Lapland Longspurs were killed in a single night as the 

 result of a storm in which they became exhausted and fell, or confused 

 and struck various obstacles. 



