Snowflakes ; Long Spurs; Song Sparrows 839 



is mostly pure white, but with the back, the greater portion of the wings, and 

 four to six of the middle tail-feathers black. The winter dress is similar, but 

 the white parts, except on the under parts of the body, are stained with rusty 

 brown. The female, which is smaller than the male, has the black feathers 

 with white or buffy white edges, these being more or less stained with rusty 

 brown in winter. This species breeds in the Arctic and sub-Arctic districts quite 

 around the globe, except on the islands, in Bering Sea and the Aleutian chain, 

 where it is replaced by the larger, whiter, and longer-billed Townsend's Snow- 

 flake (P. n. townsendi). "It occurs," says Mr. Nelson, "along the more rugged 

 parts of the coast, on rocky and barren islands, and the bare and desolate shores 

 of the Arctic Ocean. . . . When we landed at any of these places we were 

 certain to be greeted by the clear, sharp note of the Snow Bunting, which would 

 be seen running busily about searching for food or wheeling about from place 

 to place, its sharply contrasted black and white plumage quickly attracting the 

 eye, and usually the first sign of life. On the mountain sides at Plover Bay 

 its mellow note was heard on June 26, uttering the long, clear, and rather hard 

 song, full of wild and exhilarating melody, fitted to the surroundings. This 

 song consists of four or five whistling notes, which are uttered from a rocky point 

 or the top of some jutting ledge." The nest is placed on the ground, usually 

 under a boulder, and is neatly made of dried grasses, weed stems, etc., and 

 lined with feathers and occasionally hairs; the four to six or seven eggs are pale 

 greenish spotted and blotched about the larger end. After the nesting season 

 is over, the Snowflakes congregate in flocks often of great size and wander some- 

 what irregularly to the southward, usually reaching the northern border of the 

 United States and even farther, or in the Old World to Japan, Manchuria, and 

 northern China, and there is perhaps no more beautiful sight than a swirling 

 bevy of these birds as I have often observed them in northern New England, 

 as they go whirling over the snowy fields like a thousand animated snowflakes, 

 or settle upon and around the weed stalks to search busily for their food. The 

 only other species is McKay's Snowflake (P. hyperborea) of the north-central 

 islands in Bering Sea and western Alaska, which is pure white throughout 

 except for black tips to the primaries and middle tail-feathers. 



Longspurs; Song Sparrows. Quite similar in habits and to some extent 

 in distribution, but very different in coloration, are the Longspurs (Calcarius 

 and Rhynchophanes), so named from the extreme elongation of the slender 

 hind claw. But these, together with a vast concourse of Sparrows, we must 

 pass over, merely selecting a small group here and there. Of the latter the Song 

 Sparrows form one of the most interesting aggregations of fringilline birds found 

 in the Nearctic region. They are small, medium-sized, or large Sparrows, gray- 

 ish, brownish, olive, or rusty above, more or less distinctly streaked, especially 

 on the back, with darker. The lower parts are mainly whitish, with the chest 

 and sides usually streaked with rusty, brown, or dusky. The genus (Melospiza) 

 embraces three species, one of which, the real Song Sparrow, has become divided 

 up into twenty or more subspecies, which together cover practically all of North 

 America. Of this bird Mr. Ridgway says: "No other bird of the Nearctic region 



