Ipswich, Mass. [Ipswich, Massachusetts]
1874
Nov. 24 [November 24, 1874] I quickly approached within 25 yds
of him and at killed him instantly 
with a charge of No. 3. He seemed
not at all shy for [delete]as[/delete] he several
times peered at me by the rock &
then quickly drew back. He looked
very large and showed no color 
except white (the specimen has an
unusual predominance of black spotting)
and when he was first pointed out
to me kept stepping about & hopping
with half spread wings uneasily as
though apprehensive of soiling his
fine plumage with the black mud by
which he was surrounded. Eremophila
cornuta was not nearly so abundant
as on the 20th and Plec. nivalis [Plectrophenax nivalis] exceeded 
them numerically in the proportion
of 15 to 1. The latter lit more on 
the hills though I several times saw
the larks feeding there in the close
cropped pasture grass. All of the P.
Lapponicus [Plectrophanes lapponicus] were in company with
the larks and were only distinguishable 
from them by the whitish instead of
yellow throat while feeding and the
smaller size and slightly different
flight while on wing, the dorsal aspect
at that time being quite undistinguish-
able as may be better understood upon
comparing in the dried skins. Their
notes bore a close affinity to those of nivalis.
I heard two, one a high whistle shriller &
less mellow than the bunting's the other a
chatter strikingly similar to that bird