188 K^ATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA. 



flats or on mossy knolls, wbere they were coucealecl by an overhanging Lunch of moss ami a few 

 scattered grass blades, or a steep side of a bank is chosen, where the overhanging tussocks afford 

 a niche in which the nest is placed. If the nest Is among the grass, and the female is not taken 

 too quickly by surprise, she glides off and runs away, mouselike, through the grass stems, and 

 when at a safe distance, comes into view and exhibits great anxiety for her home, hovering about, 

 and flitting restlessly from point to point, or hopping along the giound, and uttering a sharp 

 tsq), tsip, isq). The male sings his short, monotonous ditty for hours at a time, from some promi- 

 nent point, choosing a small tuft of grass, a tall weed or stump. 



The song is a low, weak, and rather harsh series of notes, which are difflcult to characterize. 

 The song is not — like that of the Longspurs— confined to the breeding season, but may be heard 

 during the entire time of the bird's residence in the north. They are never shy, and are usually 

 heedless of one's presence. 



Among the various nests of this bird before me (all secured in the vicinity of Saint Michaels) 

 there is considerable variation in size, but very little in material. They vary from 3 to 5 

 inches in diameter and from 1 to 2A inches in height. The central cavity is from 2 to 2i inches 

 in diameter, and 1 to li inches deep. Five of the eight nests have a thick layer of moss form- 

 ing the outer part of the wall. Inside of this is a layer of coarse grass ; the egg-cavity iu each 

 is neatly lined with very fine dry grass, prettily arranged in a circular layer. The nests are com- 

 pactly built and are very pretty specimens of bird-architecture. Those lacking the outer layer of 

 moss differ in no other manner from the others. It appears a little odd that no feathers should be 

 used in the uests of this species, yet in the only nest where any of this material has been used a 

 bunch of down has been combined with the moss in the outer wall, apparently by chance. 



The eggs vary from five to six in number. Their ground-color is a greenish clayey-white, 

 mor« or less thickly covered with reddish-brown, varying to chocolate-brown, spots. These mark- 

 ings vary in form from fine spots, which may cover the shell so thickly as to almost conceal the 

 ground-color, to a coarse, irregular blotching and spotting scattered over the shell, but most 

 marked at the larger end. In some cases shell-markings of pale lavender or purple may be seen. 

 The eggs vary in size as follows : .67 by ,55, .07 by .58, .08 by .57, .06 by .58, .09 by .57. In set 

 No. 314, taken June 19, 1880, at Saint Michaels, and set No. 322, taken June 24, ISSO, at the 

 same locality, the eggs measure respectively .80 by .00, .80 by .60, .79 by .00, .78 by .58, and .70 by 

 .00. The average, however, is nearer to the last set of measurements than to the first, as appears 

 in the average of twenty four eggs, which equals .75 by .58 inch. 



A fully-fledged bird which I took at Saint Michaels, on July 12, has the crown feathers with 

 dark-brown shaft-streaks and dark rusty-brown edgings. In some specimens, however, these 

 edgings are much darker than iu the adult. The dark area along the shafts of the feathers on the 

 shoulder and back is large, oval or rounded at the end, and bordered with grayish or grayish buff. 

 These dark-brown or black shaft-spots are larger than in the adults. The outer edging of scapulars 

 and secondaries is warm chestnut-brown. Wing and tail feathers dark brown, the latter edged 

 with dull grayish. Breast and sides are marked, as iu adult, with dark shaft-lines, but in this 

 young specimen, the shaft lines are sooty black and are edged with dingy yellowish. Eump with 

 dark shaft-streaks edged with yellowish-brown. The usual fluffy appearance of the feathers of 

 young birds of this age is present, with a dingy yellowish suffusion on the breast and sides. 

 The yellowish or dingy buff of the back constitutes the most striking difference between the 

 young and old birds. This plumage is barely attained when it is replaced by the autumnal 

 feathering. In this latter dress the adults can almost always be distinguished from the young 

 by the lighter and grayer color and by the smaller amount of warm buffy tint about the head and 

 breast. The spring adults are readily told from the fall birds by the large clear edging of the 

 feathers on the back and head, and by the lack of buffy shade about the head and breast, the 

 markings and pattern of coloration thus showing in sharper contrast. The adults perform their 

 fall moult iu July and the 1st of August, by which latter time the young are in nearly perfect fall 

 dress. 



