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The Alaska Longspur 
suddenly appear in all the gaiety of their summer dress. At this season, 
the males are beautiful, the head and breast being jet-black with white or 
buffy stripes behind the eyes, the back of the neck bright rufous, and 
the back streaked with black and brownish. These birds appear not to 
undergo a spring molt, but to attain the breeding-dress by the wearing 
away of the light edgings of feathers characteristic of the winter plumage ; 
at the same time the remaining parts of the feathers appear to become 
brighter and richer, as though suffused with added 
^ coloring matter. There is considerable individual 
variation in color, due to a greater or less intensity 
rather than to any change in pattern. 
The females, as usual among birds, are more obscurely marked, and 
reach the breeding-ground a little later than the males. They arrive on 
the coast of Norton Sound in flocks and spread rapidly over their breed- 
ing-ground. 
Despite the bleak surroundings and chilling winds, the longspurs soon 
become abundant, and by the middle of May are in full song. As if con- 
scious of their handsome appearance, the males choose to sit on the tops 
of projecting tussocks, rocks, or small knolls, the only breaks in the 
monotonous surface, where their bright colors render them conspicuous. 
The Lapland Longspur is one of the few birds, which, like the Sky- 
lark and the Bobolink, is so filled with the ecstasy of life in spring that it 
must mount into the air to pour forth its joy in exquisite song. The males 
are scattered here and there over the tundra on their chosen projecting 
points, and at frequent intervals mount slowly on 
Song. tremulous wings ten or fifteen yards into the air. 
There they pause a moment and then, with wings 
up-pointed, forming V-shaped figures, they float gently back to their 
perches, uttering, as they sink, their liquid notes, which fall in tinkling 
succession on the ear. It is an exquisite, slightly jingling melody, with 
much less power than, but resembling the song of the Bobolink. It has 
more melody than the song of that bird, and is so filled with the joyous 
charm of springtime that no one can hear it unmoved. The period of song 
ends soon after the first of June, when brooding has begun. 
By the end of May each songster has found himself a mate, and to- 
gether they build a snug home, placed on the ground, and as cleverly 
hidden as circumstances permit. The nests are usually to be found in the 
driest parts of the tundra, in a hummock, a tuft of grass, or perhaps in a 
little bunch of dwarf willow ; and near St. Michael, in the proper sea- 
son, one cannot search about for half an hour without discovering several. 
As one approaches a nest the female usually flutters 
Nesting one’s feet, and is immediately joined by the 
Habits male. Both hover about or fly restlessly from tussock 
to tussock, uttering protests at the intruder as long as he remains in 
the vicinity. 
Whenever the eggs are nearly ready to hatch, the female shows 
the greatest solicitude, and when the young appear, her anxiety is still 
