FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC.: McCOWN LONGSPUR 761 
General Habits. —On the plains of Montana, Mr. Cameron wrote, 
the McCown Longspur “arrives in immense flocks towards the end of 
April, and is seemingly a most punctual migrant, as my notes give April 
26, 27, and 29, for 1897, ’98, and '99 as the dates of first appearance. 
The birds, which scatter over the ground as they alight, hide in the 
horse and cattle hoof prints, or other holes, and allow themselves to be 
almost trodden upon before rising. A large flock was driven into the 
shelter of my ranch buildings, near Terry, during a terrific thunder¬ 
storm . . . the McCown Longspur is in all respects similar in habits to 
. . . Ccilcarius ornatus [the Chestnut-collared] excepting that in my 
experience the female R . mccowni lays four eggs instead of three. On 
June 22, 1894, I had ample opportunity for observing this species, as, 
my horse having run away, I was compelled to walk home, ten miles 
across the prairie. My way was enlivened by the handsome males, 
which hung above me, before sinking into the grass with a burst of song, 
in strong contrast to the dowdy brown females, which I frequently 
flushed from their nests” (1907, p. 406). 
In making a horseback trip across Montana Mr. Saunders found the 
Longspurs “in full song, a charmingly sweet song, that tinkled across the 
prairie continually from all sides. . . . The song is nearly always ren¬ 
dered when in flight. The bird leaves the ground and flies upward on a 
long slant till fifteen or twenty feet high, then it spreads both wings out¬ 
ward and upward, lifts and spreads its white tail feathers, erects the 
upper tail coverts and feathers of the lower back, and, bursting into song, 
floats downward into the grass like an animated parachute, singing all 
the way” (1912, p. 217). In some places on the flat-topped prairie 
benches, Mr. Saunders says, “this is the only bird to be found” (1914, 
p. 137). 
In the late fall, Ernest Thompson Seton found the Longspurs in 
northeastern New Mexico. From Clayton, on October 22, 1893, he 
wrote—“ Fifty yards back of the palatial hotel is a muddy pond on the 
tin-bedecked prairie. Around this all day the bird life is swarming. 
There are dozens of Killdeers, scores of Brewer Blackbirds, hundreds of 
Shorelarks, and thousands of white-tailed Longspurs. No doubt they 
are somewhat concentrated here on account of the water—a scarce 
opportunity in this land—but on the prairie they are almost as abun¬ 
dant.” 
The next day he added—“ Collected some Longspurs, by the help of 
a wild cowboy who, thanks to his prairie pony, was able to retrieve my 
specimens that fell on the gumbo flat. All were McCowni.” A week 
later he wrote from Clapham—“ As I take my daily ride, I see countless 
multitudes of these Longspurs. They are by far the most abundant 
bird of the region. At each hundred yards, on the prairie, a flock of 
fifty or a hundred rises and flies over, usually going southward, display- 
