l-'IMN(HM,in.K — TIIK I'lN'CllKS. 519 



IIaiui's. Tliis species wiis lirst olitiiiiied hy Sir Joliii Ifieliiirdsiin's |Piirty 

 aiul (leserilied hy Swniiismi in llie Fkhihi I'unriilt-.inii rlrmui. It Wiis oh- 

 sei'ved assotiiatinj,' willi llie Lnplaiid IJiintiiijis on the lianks df tlie Saskatclie- 

 waii, l)iit IK) iid'iiniiatii)ii was niitaiiKMl in regard tn its lu'eedin.^'-liiiliils, No 

 specimens in tlie matiiiv plnniai,'"' iire kmiwii Id have lieun olitained in tiie 

 I'nited States, lint liirds in the inimatnn! plnina^c are not iinlreiiuent, in 

 early spring, tliri>nj,'h(int Illiimis. Mr. Audubon, in company with Mr. Har- 

 ris and Mr. IJell, obtained specimens of these liirds near Kdwardsv ille, and 

 descrilied them as a nt'w species. Mr. iiell states, in reemd to these birds, 

 tluit ho I'onnil them very abundant on th(! low ^irairie near a lake, a lew miles 

 rriini Kdwardsville. They were generally in larye Hocks, and wiien once; 

 on till' ground they bewail to separate. They ran very nimbly, in a manner 

 resembling that ot' the, (ira.ss Finch, and when {\\v.\ arose, whicii they rarely 

 did unless they woro nearly approaclie<l, they uttered a sharji click, repeated 

 scvoral times in quick succession, and moved with an easy nndnlating motion 

 for a short distance and then alighted very suddenly, st'eniiiig to iall jierpen- 

 dienlarly several feet bi the ground. They jiret'erred the spots wlicre tlic 

 grass was shortest. When in the air they Hew in circles, to and fro, lor a few 

 minutes, and then alighted, keeping up a constant chirping or call, .somewhat 

 like that of IIk; IJed-l'oll. 



These, birds wei'e ob.served in large nnmlMMs at Tort Anderson, and on the 

 Lower Ander.son Kiver, by Mr. MacFarlane, and a large nnndicr of their 

 nests obtained. These were all on the giniiiid, and usually in open spaces, 

 but also in the vicinity of trees. The usual mnnber of eggs found in a nest 

 ajipoars to have been lour. 'I'he nests, for the most part, were censtrucled 

 of fine dry gras.ses, carefully arranged, and lined with down, feathers, or liner 

 materials similar to tho.se of the outer jiortions. In a few there were no feath- 

 ers ; in others, feathers in dilferent ]iroportions ; and in a few the down and 

 feathers eomjiosed the chief jiortion of tlie nest, with only a few leaves as a 

 base to the nest. They were .sometimes sunk in e.\cavations made by the 

 birds, or placed in a tu.ssock of grass, and, in one instance, [tlaced in the 

 midst of a bed of Labrador tea. 



They were also olitained at Fort Yukon, at the mouth of Porcupine Kiver, 

 by St rachan Jones. They were nuich more abundant in tlu' Mackenzie lliver 

 district. 



Specimens of this bird, in the fall plumage, were obtained from Fort 

 Sim])son, w\w.w. Mr. I*. W. Koss states that it a]i]iears on its way north in 

 May. They resort to the fields around the fort in search of grain. Although 

 these birds kec]) entirely apart from the /'. nlra/i-'i, Mr. IJoss has fretjuently 

 ol)sorved stiveral 7*. /iqijuiniiiis associating with thiMii. 



When their nests are apjiroached, the female ([uietly slips off, while the 

 male bird may be seen hojiping or flying from tree to tree in the neighbor- 

 hood of the nest, and will at times do all he can to induce intruders to with- 

 draw from the neiuhborhood. 



