510 Noimi AMihacAN juitDi^. 



Habits. Tln! Laplaiul Loiit^spur is an Aiclic ri'sidoiit, l»eloii<,'ing etiually 

 to tlio two coiitiiioiils, rarely dt'scfiidinj,' even in wiiitor to tcMiUK-rate ro>,'ions, 

 and then chiolly in its inunaturc [)liiniai;i'. In iMiropo, aeco. ling to Varrull, 

 only a few spccinions liavu lii'on found in tlu; Uritish Islands, and tlirse 

 were single individuals, mostly found in coniiPiiny wilii Larks. Tliey havo 

 also been taken in France, in Helgiuni, and in dill'erent parts of Geriuany. 

 Degland states that these hirds are oceasinnally snared on the coast at Dun- 

 kirk, and in the neighborhood of Antwerp, but these are always young 

 males in their winter jilumage. 



Pennant states that it is found in Siberia, and near the Ural Mountains, 

 migrating in the winter as far .south as Switzerland ; and, according to 

 Necker, they have also been taken, always in company witii Larks, in the 

 vicinity of (ieneva. It inhabits Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Spitz- 

 bergen, Iceland, and (Jreenland, in the summer. 



Iiichardson mentions that the Lapland Hunting is connnon in the fur re- 

 gions, wintering on the coast ol' Hudson's IJay. During its stay it feeds on 

 grass-seed, the fruit of the juniper, and the pines. As he never met with 

 these l)irds during the winter, he suspects that their princijial retreats are on 

 the borders of Lakes Huion and Superior, and the country westward. In 

 1827 they apiieared on the ]ilains, at the (,'arlton House, about the middle 

 of May, in very large Hocks, in com|)any with Shore Larks and the P. jncia, 

 liequenting the o]ien sjjots where the fires had destroyed the grass. In 

 the same season they came a few days later to the Cumberland H(jiise, and 

 kept constantly about the furrows of the new-ploughed fields. Tiie year 

 betbre they had been, in smaller flocks, in the vicinity of Fort Franklin, 

 latitude 65°, in the Ijeginning of May. Their croj)s were found filled with 

 seeds of the aljiine arbutus. 



Mr. Audul)on met with them in enormous flocks in Kentucky, about Feb- 

 ruary If), ISU). They were in company with the Shore Larks and the Snow 

 Buntings. Xone of these were in perfect plumage. 



^Ir. liidgway cites this as a common winter visitant in Southern Illinois, 

 abundant in unusually severe winters, either in large flocks l)y itself, or a 

 few individuals mixed up in flocks of Shore Larks. 



^Ir. Dall gives ^lay 12 as the date of the first arrival of these birds at 

 Xulato, and adds that it is not at any time a very common bird. He was 

 not able to find its nest at Xulato, Init was informed by tiie Indians that it 

 builds on the bare hillsides, in hillocks of grass, and that it does not leave the 

 nest when any one approaches, but sits jierfectly still, and thus often escapes 

 detection. He considers it a very fhie singer. Spetnniens W(>re received from 

 Sitka, obtained by Bischoff. To this account Mr. Bannister a(hls that it is 

 by far the most abundant of the land-birds found at St. Michael's. It aji- 

 ])eare(l on that island about the (Uh of INIay, and from that time until about 

 the middle or latter ])art of September they were observcil in great numbers 

 all over the island. He, too, was not succt;ssful in finding its nest, though 



