380 
ANNUAL REPORT. 
on the head and rump in the female and immature birds, but the adult 
male carmine red nearly throughout when in full plumage. It is of ir¬ 
regular occurrence, being quite numerous some winters and then almost 
entirely absent for several winters together. During the winter of 
1874-5 they were common in flocks about Minneapolis and were quite 
well represented during the winter .just passed (1880-1). They appear 
in the latter part of November or early in December and leave in 
March (Mar. 18, 1875; Mar. 7. 1879). They have a mellow, sweet 
whistle, aud while here, a low, subdued song. Their food consists 
largely of sumach berries, mountain ash berries, high-bush cranberries, 
etc., but it is the seeds not the pulp of the berries of which they are 
fond. They reject entirely the pulp of the high-bush cranberry, sim¬ 
ply pressing out and eating the single broad, flat seed. 
27. .^Egiothus linaria {Linn) Cab. Red-poll Linnet — A sprightly lit¬ 
tle bird with a black chin patch and a dark crimson on the top of the 
head with sometimes a rare red plush over the entire heart. It is very 
abundant some seasons, appealing in large flocks and frequenting 
weedy fields and tamarack swamps. They appear about the first of 
November aud remain until the middle of April (April 18. 1875). 
28. Plectrophanes nivalis, [Linn.) Meyer. Snow Bunting. —Common. 
Generally most numerous in late fall and early spring. Arrives in the 
latter part of October (one taken Oct. 16, 1875) and generally leaves in 
April, though stragglers are sometimes found in May (a pair, male and 
female, apparently mated, taken at Minneapolis May 14, 1875, and one 
seen May 5,1876). A bird a little less in size than a bluebird, plumage 
much variegated with black, white and and reddish brown in the fall 
and winter but becoming mainly black and white in sharply defined 
areas in spring, lire ds within the Arctic Circle. 
29. Plectrophanes lapponicus, {Linn.) Selby. Lapland Longspur. — 
Similar to the last but much darker in color. The hind claw is very 
long, from which comes the name. The snow bunting and Lapland 
longspur are highly gregarious birds and during the fall, early spring 
and mild winters they often occur in countless thousands, frequenting 
prairies and fields where they feed upon the ends of grasses and weeds. 
The longspur appears in Hennepin Co. as early as September (taken 
Sept. 29, 1875; seen Sept. 30, 1880) and leaves in late April, though 
like the snow bunting it is occasionally found in May (three taken May 
3, 1875, and a flock seen May 11. 1877). 
30. Spizella monticola, {Gin.) Bd. Thee Sparrow. — A small, brownish 
bird with a dark spot on the breast and an unbroken rufus crown 
patch. An abundant migrant spring and fall, and some of the hardier 
birds remain here in sheltered places through the winter, though they 
are most noticeable mild seasons. 
31. Surnium cinereum, (Gm.) Aud. Great Gray Owl. —An immense, 
hornless owl occasionally taken in the state, but far from common. 
32. Nyctea scandiaca, (Linn.) Newt. Great White or Snowy Owl 
— A well-known and wary bird which, while not exactly common, is 
yet generally and regularly distributed in open country. Taken at 
