72 
BIRDS OP DURHAM AND VICINITY. 
early in March. While here they feed on seeds of various herbs. 
December stomachs which I have opened contained only seeds and 
sand. Their wings are larger than the wings of most finches, and 
they fly swiftly and easily. The sight presented by a hundred snow- 
flakes as they pass over a level stretch of land, alternately running and 
flying, is beautiful indeed. 
Calcarius lapponicus. Lapland Longspur. 536. 
The only lime in this vicinity that I have observed this species was 
on the thirtieth of November, 1899, ^^'l"'en I saw three at Hampton 
Beach. With them were Shore Larks and Snowliakcs. Of the three 
species the Longspurs were hardest to approach. They fed largely on 
the seeds of beach grass, and also when the tide was out, on the 
shore, though what they found there I did not ascertain. A Novem- 
ber stomach taken at Hampton, which I opened, contained seeds. At 
Plymouth, Mass., in January, 1900, I found them associated with 
Snowflakes in about the ratio of one Longspur to a hundred Snow- 
flakes. The two fed and flew together. I did not see any Longspurs 
till after two days of severe weather, when they came with a delega- 
tion of Buntings and joined the flock of Buntings that had been stay- 
ing there. 
Pooecetes graminens. Vesper Sparrow. 540. 
The Vesper Sparrow is a common summer resident in fields and 
smooth pastures. Its spring coming depends much upon the weather, 
as is the case with other early migrants. In 1898 the first record was 
made March 31 ; the next year none appeared till April 13; while in 
1900 it was the fifteenth of April when I first observed one. It is 
essentially a ground-bird, nesting and feeding on the ground. Its 
nest is composed of grass, and placed in a slight hollow. This spar- 
row is readily distiguished from all our other summer sparrows by the 
outer tail feathers which show white as it flies, not unlike those of the 
Junco. Few Vesper Sparrows remain later than October, but I have 
seen one contentedly hulling ragweed seed on a crust of snow, so 
late as the fourteenth of November. 
Ammodramus princeps. Ipswich SPARROw^ 541. 
This sparrow, which looks like a faded, overgrown Savanna, is a 
regular migrant along the coast. They come to the sand-hills in the 
latter part of October and the last are usually gone southward early in 
December. I have found them common in Plymouth, Mass*, in 
