Across the Fields. 245 



six bluish white eggs are laid much washed and obscured by grayish brown. 

 They are little more than four fifths of an inch long and about three fifths of 

 an inch broad. 



This Bunting or Longspur is during the cooler portions of the year a 

 characteristic bird of the prairies, from Illinois to Texas, and extends west- 

 ward over the Great Plains of the interior of the United 

 ^ ^ ' States. In summer they range far north, breeding to the 



Calcarius pictus (Swains.). . /-^ .' o o 



Arctic Coast. 



The birds are nearly six inches and three quarters long. In the summer 

 plumage the adult male has a black head. There is a white line over the 

 eye, a spot on the back of the neck, and one on the region about the ears is 

 of the same color, and there is a large white patch on the wings. The back 

 is black streaked with buff. The tail is dusky, with the two outer feathers 

 nearly white. A band on the back of the neck and the entire lower parts are 

 yellowish buff. In winter, the defined markings of the male are replaced 

 by dusky streaked with brown, and the throat and chest are streaked with 

 dusky and are lighter buff than in summer. Otherwise the birds are much as 

 at that season. The adult female resembles the winter male. 



The nest is, like that of its congeners, built on the ground, of mosses 

 and grasses, and lined with finer material of the same sort. The eggs are 

 bluish white speckled with reddish brown, varying to nearly uniform dark 

 brown. They are over four fifths of an inch long, and about three fifths of 

 an inch in their other diameter. 



There are two other birds closely allied to Smith's Longspur and the 



Lapland Longspur that have a place in the bird fauna of Eastern North 



America. One is the Chestnut-collared Longspur, which 



<^^^^tnu'-collared j^ ^ ^-^^ ^f ^^^ q^.^^^ pi^j^^^ ^^^ ^^e interior of North 



r,i ■ » .-r* > America. It breeds from the western part of Minnesota 



Calcanus ornatus (Towns.). ^ 



north to the Plains of the Saskatchewan region. 

 In the adult male in summer the crown, entire breast, and upper belly are 

 black, as is a line back of the eye and a crescent shaped mark on side of the 

 head. There is a bright chestnut band on back of the neck. The rest of 

 the upper parts are brownish gray with darker streaks. The throat and 

 sides of the head, the lower belly and feathers below the tail are white. 



