the white is Yartousl3' clouded with rich warm brown, which colors most of the upper parts, washes 

 along the sides of the body, forms a collar on the breast and a patch on the ears, and deepens to 

 blackish on the crown ; the black dorsal area is mixed with brown and white ; the feet are black as 

 in summer, but the bill is mostly or entirely yellowish. 



"Length, about 7.00 inches; wing, 4.50; tail, 2.75 inches." (Stearns & Coues, "New England 

 Bird-Life." I. p. 230.) 



LAPLAND LONGSPUR, 



Calcarius lapponicus StejneGER. 



IvTHOUGH this Longspur appears in countless thousands on the fields and 

 jp^ prairies of the northern part of the United States in October and early in 

 November, it is not a familiar bird owing to its plain and inconspicuous coloring. 

 For this reason it does not give an impression to the landscape like its striking con- 

 gener, the Snowflake. Most people, who are well acquainted with the characteristic 

 birds of their surroundings, do not know the Lapland Longspur, though it may be 

 very common everywhere in their immediate neighborhood in fall and spring. While the 

 Snowflakes make the northern parts of the Union their winter home, the Lapland Long- 

 spurs move farther southw^ard. The Mississippi valley below the range of the Snow 

 Bunting is occupied by these birds, and in the East they occur sometimes as far south- 

 ward as South Carolina. In south-western Missouri it is exceedingly common in old, 

 weedy cornfields and on grassy prairies. It also visits Kansas, penetrating even to 

 Texas, where it has been observed at Gainesville. At Caddo, Indian Territory, it was 

 observed by Prof. W. W. Cooke. None were seen until a sudden cold snap in February 

 covered everything with frozen rain. Homed Larks, Smith's Longspurs, and Chestnut- 

 collared Buntings became abundant, and February 13 three Lapland Longspurs were 

 seen. Starting out the next day, Prof. Cooke found hitfiself suddenly surrounded by 

 hundreds and hundreds of them. They fairly swarmed for a week ; but on the night of 

 February 19, taking advantage of a clear sky and a south wind, they disappeared, in 

 company with all their long-clawed brethren, as suddenly as they had come. In 

 Kansas they were very numerous at the same time, and a month later Nebraska became 

 the scene of action for the evolutions of their mighty armies. In the Ozark region of 

 south-w^estern Missouri these birds are usually first observed by December 1, provided 

 the weather be cold at that time, but they rarely make their appearance before 

 January 1. They leave early in March. In Wisconsin they appear in the first days of April, 

 remaining in favorable localities about ten to fifteen days. I have observed these birds 

 almost every winter from 1869 to 1879 on the prairies of northern Illinois. When cold 

 weather commenced they moved southward, but returned late in March. They were 

 exceedingly abundant in old fields, especially in weedy tracts, and heedlessly alighted 

 even on hay-stacks and in farm yards. They are more quiet and do not fly so beauti- 

 fully nor in such compact masses as the Snowflakes. They never retire to bushy tracts 

 or to the woodland border, but always keep in the unprotected open fields and prairies. 



