l66 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



they took flight again, their wings striking against the twigs produced a crashing 

 sound hke that of a faUing tree." 



Within more recent years I have met with Snowflakes oftenest in the culti- 

 vated fields lying to the eastward of Belmont, and about the shores of Fresh 

 Pond. They have not wholly ceased to visit the older settled portions of 

 Cambridge, for on January 23, 1904, when the snow lay deep in our city 

 streets, ten or a dozen birds were seen feeding in Prescott Street, near the Har- 

 vard Union building, by Mr. M. L. Fernald. I am also told that a few small 

 flocks have appeared, during the past two winters, on the gravel-filled land bor- 

 dering on the Back Bay Basin in Cambridgeport. 



152. Calcarius lapponicus (Linn.). 

 Lapland Longspur. 



Casual visitor in early spring. 



The only instance known to me of the occurrence of the Lapland Long- 

 spur in the Cambridge Region is that of a bird which was met with a few 

 years ago near Fresh Pond by Mr. G. M. Allen, who has been kind enough 

 to give me the following account of his observation : ^ " On March 25, 1899, while 

 returning from a walk through the Fresh Pond region, I saw a flock of Horned 

 Larks in the bare field about two hundred yards southeast of the railroad 

 station, at Fresh Pond, and on the eastern side of the highway. I at once 

 went over to examine the birds, in the hope of finding some Prairie Horned 

 Larks or other fellow migrants in the flock. The birds were restless, though 

 not shy, and soon flew as I neared them. After they were in the air, I noticed 

 a smaller bird arise from the ground near me with undulating flight and make 

 off after the Larks. As it flew, the bird uttered a harsh ' t-r-r-r-r-r-p ' which I 

 at once recognized as having heard from a Longspur at Ipswich the previous 

 fall. Following on after the bird, I was able with care to approach within about 

 three or four yards, and watched it several minutes through a glass. It had a 

 full black throat and upper breast, and I could also make out the crescent of 

 rusty brown on its nape when it turned its back to me. It was much less active 

 than the Horned Larks, and remained feeding on the ground after those nearest 

 it had moved off a short distance to where the main body of the flock was feed- 



' It was reported very briefly by Howe and Allen in their ' Birds of Massachusetts,' 1901, 127. 



