FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



289 



is the 

 comos 

 il come 

 i in the 

 reality 

 arc as 



Fio. 81. -Hind toe of Lap- 

 laud Louj;spuf. 



fat as butter balls. In midwinter, in the far north, when the ther- 

 mometer showed thirty degrees below zero, and the chill blizzard was 

 blowing on the plains, I have seen this brave little bird gleefully 

 chasing his 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 ever human foot 

 has been, and there builds his nest. Ernest E. Thompson. 



636. Calcarius lapponicus (/)/»».)• Lapland LoNdsnrii. Ad. s 

 in summer. — Hind toc-nuil us long as or longer tluiii toe ; lit-ml, noek, tlirout, 

 and breast ulaek ; a butty lino behnul tho eye; nape rufous; back streaked 

 with black and ochraceous- and ereaui-butt'; tail 

 fuscous, tiiu two outer featliers with more or less 

 wliite ; belly white; sides streaked with black. 

 All. 9 in summer. — Upper parts streaked with 

 black, rufous, ochraceous- and creani-butl"; nape 

 ochraceous-burt', the color sometimes concealed 

 by the tips of the feathers ; tail fuscous, the outer 

 one or two feathers marked with wliite ; under 

 parts white, the breast and sides streaked with 

 black and ochraeeous-butf. & in winter. — Simi- 

 lar to 9 in sununer, but upper parts blacker, nape 



' more rufous, breast more heavily marked with black, most of the featliers 



black at the l)ase. 9 in winter. — Similar to 9 in sunmier, but upper parts duller, 

 nape with little or no ochraceous. L., fyi'y, VV., 3-7r); T., 2'5r); B., -40. 



Jiemarls. — In some {ilumaijcs this bird boars a jL'oneral resemblance to cer- 

 tain Sparrows, but ditt'ers from tliem in having the hind toc-tuiil as long as or 

 longer than the toe. 



A'a/?(7(!.—" Northern portions of the northern hemisphere, breeding far 

 north; in North America, south in winter to the northern I'nitcd States, 

 irregularly to the Middle States, accidentally to South Carolina." 



Washington. W. V., casual, oiu' instance, luc. '^'n- Fing, W. V., casual. 



Nest, of grasses and moss liiu^d with grasses, on the jjround. /.'j/f/.v, four 

 to si.K, bluish white, almost obscured by a uniform grayish brown, '82 x mJO. 



In the east Lapland Longspurs are generally found atnong flocks 

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

 great numbers. " High in (ho air tiiey fly in long, straggling flocks, 

 all singing together; a thousand voices, a tonuulo of whistling. . . . 

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

 some clod, and, as their colors arc 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 S(|uat iigain. . . .'" (Thompson). 



637. Calcarius pictU8ftSVa//f/?.). S.mithV LoNosriR. A'L 6 in sum- 

 mer. — Top and sides of the head black, a line over the eye and the eur-coverts 



20 



