FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 
385 
fellows, and pouring out as he flew his sweet, voluble song with as much 
spirit as ever Skylark has in the sunniest days of June. As long as the 
snow lasts the Snowflake stays, and as soon as the ground grows bare 
and there is promise of better days, this bird of winter betakes himself 
again to the north as far as the most northern habitation of man, and 
there builds his nest. Ernest Thompson Seton. 
536 . Calearius lapponicus lapponieus (Linn.). ^ Lapland Long- 
spur. Hind toe-nail as long as or longer than toe. Ad. in summer. — Head, 
neck, throat, and breast black; a buffy line behind the eye; nape rufous; back 
streaked with black and ochraceous- and cream-buff; tail fuscous, the two 
outer feathers with more or less white; belly white; sides streaked with black. 
Ad. 9 in summer. — Upperparts streaked with black, rufous, ochraceous- and 
cream-buff ; nape ochraceous-buff , the color some- 
times concealed by the tips of the feathers; tail 
fuscous, the outer one or two feathers marked with 
white; underparts white, the breast and sides 
streaked with black and ochraceous-buff. in 
winter. — Similar to $ in summer, but upperparts 
blacker, nape more rufous, breast more heavily 
marked with black, most of the feathers black at 
the base. 9 in winter. — Similar to 9 in summer, 
but upperparts duller, nape with little or no 
ochraceous. L., 6*25; W., 375; T., 2*55; B., ‘40. 
Remarks. — In some plumages this bird bears a 
general resemblance to certain Sparrows, but 
differs from them in having the hind toe-nail as long as or longer than the 
toe. 
Range. — N. Hemisphere. In N. A. breeds from about lat. 73° on Arctic 
islands, and w. Greenland, and from lat. 75° in e. Greenland s. to limit of 
trees in Mackenzie (at least as far w. as long. 120°), cen. Keewatin, and n. 
Ungava; winters from s. Que., and n. cen. U. S. irregularly s. to the middle 
States and Tex., rarely Ky. and S. C. 
Washington, W. V., one instance, Dec. Ossining, W. V., casual. Cam- 
bridge, one record. N. Ohio, tolerably common, W. V., Nov. 15-Apl. 25. 
Glen Ellyn, common W. V., Oct. 16-May 16. SE. Minn., common 
w. v. 
Nest , of grasses and moss, lined with grasses, on the ground. Eggs , 4-6, 
bluish white, almost obscured by a uniform grayish brown, *82 x ’60. Date , 
Pt. Barrow, Alaska, June 6. 
In the east, Lapland Longspurs are generally found among flocks 
of Shorelarks or Snowflakes, but on the western plains they occur in 
great numbers. “High in the air they fly in long, straggling flocks, all 
singing together; a thousand voices, a tornado of whistling. . . . When 
in the fields they have a curious habit of squatting just behind some 
clod, and, as their colors are nearly matched to the soil, they are not 
easily observed, nor will they move until you are within a few feet; they 
then run a few feet and squat again. . . .” (Seton). 
One of the most remarkable bird tragedies of which we have any 
knowledge is recorded by Dr. T. S. Roberts (Auk, 1907, pp. 369-377) as 
occurring in southwestern Minnesota on March 13, 1904, when at least 
several million Lapland Longspurs were killed in a single night as the 
result of a storm in which they became exhausted and fell, or confused 
and struck various obstacles. 
Fig. 102. Hind toe of Lap- 
land Longspur. 
