THE BIRD BOOK 
Smith’s Longspun 
537. Smith’s Longspur. Calcarius pictus. 
Range. — Breeds in Hudson Bay and Mac- 
kenzie River districts and winters south to 
Texas chiefly o nthe Plains. 
This species is of the size 
of the last but is a rich buff 
color below, and the other 
markings are very different. 
These birds together with 
the next species are very 
common on the prairies in 
central United States in win- Grayish 
ter. They nest on the ground like the preced- 
ing species but the nests are scantily made of 
grasses and not warmly lined like those of the 
last. The eggs are similar but paler; size .80 
x .60. Data. — Herschell Island, Arctic Ocean, 
June 10, 1901. Nest built in a tuft of grass; 
made of fine roots and grass, lined with feath- 
ers. 
538. Chestnut-collared Longspur. Calcarius ornatus. 
Range. — Plains in the interior of North America, breeding from Kansas north 
to Saskatchewan; very abundant in the Dakotas and Montana. 
This handsome species in the breeding plumage has the 
throat white, breast and belly black, and a chestnut collar on 
the nape. They are one of the most abundant breeding birds 
on the prairies, nesting in hollows on the ground either in the 
open or protected by a tuft of grass. The nests are made of 
grasses and sometimes moss; three or four eggs laid in June 
or July; white, blotched, lined 
and obscurely marked with 
brown and purplish; size .75 x .55. 
539. McCown’s Longspur. Rhynchophanes 
mccorvni. 
Range. — Great Plains, breeding from Kansas 
to the Saskatchewan. 
This Longspur which breeds in company with 
the preceding, throughout its range, can be dis- 
tinguished from it by the 
small black patch on the 
breast, the black crown, and 
chestnut wing coverts. Their 
nesting habits are the same, 
and at this season all the 
Longspurs have a sweet song 
often uttered during flight, Grayish white 
like that of the Bobolink. Their eggs are of the 
same size and similarly marked as the last, but 
the ground color is more gray or olive. 
Chestnut-collared Longspur 
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