282 
Field Marks. Very white, gregarious ground Sparrows showing large amounts of 
white on black wings when flying. 
Nesting. On the ground in moss, nest of grass, rootlets, and moss lined with feathers 
and fur. 
Distribution. Circumpolar Arctics. In Canada, breeding from the edge of Barren- 
grounds northward across the continent. In migration, throughout Canada. 
SUBSPECIES. Only one of the two recognized subspecies, the Common Snow 
Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis , is known to occur in Canada. 
Winter visitors in southern Canada, feeding on the weed-tops that 
project from the snow in open fields and rarely perching in trees. A flock 
alights in the weed-spotted snow and gradually works across it, the rear 
of the flock rising up from time to time like a flurry of snow and pitching 
ahead, the process being repeated until the whole field has been gone over. 
536. Lapland Longspur (Including Alaska Longspur). Calcarius lapponicus. 
L, 6*25. Plate LIV A. Adult male: streaked with dark brown, buff, and traces of ruddy 
ochre above; bright chestnut nape and hindneck band. Crown, black, broken by more 
or less defined median stripe of light ochre. Below, white with black throat, foreneck, and 
face; a white superciliary line. Black stripes and spots along flank. Females and younger 
males similar in general colour plan, but dingier and without solid colour anywhere. The 
chestnut nape always present or suggested, and the black of the face and foreparts repre- 
sented by veiled, broken masses about the edges of the areas. Some autumn juveniles 
are mostly streaky ochreous, lightening to white on abdomen. The nail of the hind toe 
is elongated as in the Horned Lark (See Figure 250). 
Distinctions. In the hand, only likely to be mistaken for one of the other Longspurs. 
The adult male has the throat black like the face, instead of white as in McCown’s, or 
buffy as in Smith’s and the Chestnut-collared Longspurs. Harris’ Sparrow has a similar 
black face and bib, but is otherwise an entirely different-appearing bird, with light grey 
ear-coverts, and no chestnut collar. Females and juveniles with the distinct or semi- 
obscured chestnut collar are easily separated from McCown’s and Smith's, but may be 
very similar to the Chestnut-collared. They are distinctly larger birds, however, wing 3-50 
and over, instead of 3 • 25 or under, and the collar is well developed instead of vaguely defined 
or absent. The whole bird is more sharply streaked. The black suffuses around ear- 
coverts and across the lower neck, and the underparts are solid white. Female and juvenile 
Chestnut-collared Longspurs may have a veiled black spot below a light throat, but the 
abdomen is a dusty buffy and usually shows more or less irregular intrusion of black. 
Autumn juveniles are still more confusing. They have a general appearance of a streaked 
buffy bird, with white, rarely cream, abdomen, with but traces of veiled black down sides 
of throat from corners of bill, and across upper breast. The tips of the ear-coverts are 
bordered by a conspicuous brown or black patch that is absent in the Chestnut-collared and 
McCown’s Longspurs and much smaller or absent in Smith’s. The best test for the 
species, in this plumage, is the white or faintly cream abdomen. 
Field Marks. By habit and association much like the Snow Bunting, the Horned 
Lark, or the other Longspurs. Lack of the great amount of white, especially in wings, and 
the coarser, harsher note will separate from the Snow Bunting; sparrow bill and lack of 
yellow throat or ear tufts, and undulating flight, from the Horned Lark. The adult male, 
with his black face and bib, is distinct from the other Longspurs. In addition to details 
previously mentioned, other plumages are more streaky than other Longspurs, and never 
as evenly buffy as Smith’s. It is only a spring and autumn migrant, and not to be met 
with in southern Canada in summer when the Chestnut-collared and McCown’s Longspurs 
are most common. 
Distribution. The greater part of the northern hemisphere, breeding in the Arctics 
and migrating or wintering throughout southern Canada. 
SUBSPECIES. Two subspecies are recognized in Canada. The form common to 
Europe and eastern America is the type one, Calcarius lapponicus lapponicus. The Alaska 
Longspur Calcarius lapponicus alascensis breeds in Alaska and east towards the Mackenzie. 
The subspecific distinction is slight and the boundaries of the ranges are not well defined. 
On the western prairies and in British Columbia, both forms may occur during migration. 
In the autumn, when most of the other Longspurs, the Chestnut-collared 
and McCown’s, have departed for the south, the sere-frosted prairies are 
visited by flocks of innumerable ground Sparrows. They rise from the 
