FINCHES, SPARROWS 



(538) Calcarius ornatus 



[Town.) (Lat., adorned). 



CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONG 

 SPUR. Ad. a' in summer — Plum- 

 age as shown; nape chestnut; throat 

 and face white; crown and breast 

 black; outer tail feathers and lesser 

 wing coverts largely white. In win- 

 ter similar but with black underneath 

 quite concealed by whitish edging 

 of the feathers. 9 and Im. — No 

 chestnut on nape nor black beneath; 

 streaked above and indistinctly so 

 below; wings and tail as on adult 

 male. L., 5.90; W., 3.20; T., 2.20; 

 B., .40. Nest — Of dried grasses 

 lined with feathers; on the ground; 

 three to si.x pale greenish-white 

 eggs, blotched with \arious shades 

 of brown and lavender, .75 x .55. 



Range — Great Plains. Breeds 

 from Sask. south to Kan. 



or falling off, leaving the bird clad in a handsome but not 

 new suit. The Snowflake, in the same way, changes from 

 its winter plumage to that of summer, in which only black 

 and white appear, the brownish tips all wearing away. 



LAPLAND LONGSPURS, after breeding in the Arctic 

 region of the northern hemisphere, straggle southward upon 

 the approach of winter. In America large flocks of them 

 regularly occur in the Mississippi Valley south to Kansas 

 and casually farther. It is rather curious that this very 

 boreal species should more often stray to eastern United 

 States than the three species cominon to the Great Plains 

 in the interior, yet such is the case. In the Eastern States 

 a few individuals frequently occur in with flocks of Snow- 

 flakes or with Horned Larks. While in flight they always 

 utter a twittering whistle, very pronounced when heard 

 from large flocks. On the ground they run rapidly about, 

 picking here and there at various seeds; if they see any one 

 approaching, they keep motionless behind clods until certain 

 that they will be discovered, and then go whistling away. 



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