56 
LAPLAND LONGSPUR. 
adopted as a subgenus, and are almost inclined to admit as an 
independent genus, being well characterized both by form and 
habits. The two species of Plectrophanes , to which we apply the 
name of Longspur, together with the Buntings, are well distin¬ 
guished from the Finches by their upper mandible, contracted 
and narrower than the lower, their palatine tubercle, &c. From 
the typical Emberizse they differ remarkably by the length and 
straightness of their hind nail, and the form of their wings, which, 
owing to the first and second primaries being longest, are acute. 
In the true Buntings, the first quill is shorter than the second and 
third, which are longest. This species, in all its changeable dresses, 
may at once be known by its straight and very long hind nail, 
which is twice as long as the toe. The bill is also stronger and 
longer than in the other species. 
The Longspurs are strictly Arctic birds, only descending in 
the most severe and snowy winters to less rigorous climates, and 
never to the temperate zone, except on the mountains. Hence 
they may with the greatest propriety be called Snow-birds. They 
frequent open countries, plains, and desert regions, never inhabiting 
forests. They run swiftly, advancing by successive steps like the 
Larks, (which they resemble in habits, as well as in the form of 
their hind nail) and not by hopping, like the Buntings. The 
conformation of their wings also gives them superior powers of 
flight to their allied genera, the Buntings and Finches. Their 
moult appears to be double, and notwithstanding Temminck’s 
and my own statement to the contrary, they differ much in their 
summer and winter plumage. Owing to this, the species have 
been thoughtlessly multiplied: there are in reality but two, the 
present, and Snow-Bunting of Wilson. 
The Male Lapland Longspur in full breeding dress, is nearly 
seven inches long, and twelve and a quarter in extent; the bill is 
nearly half an inch long, yellow, blackish at the point; the irides 
