Part 67

The Snow Bunting is also an inhabitant, during the breeding-season, of the Arctic regions of Europe and Asia, and the islands of the Arctic Sea. Scoresby states that it resorts in large flocks to the shores of Spitzbergen, and Captain Sabine includes it among the birds of Greenland and the North Georgian Islands, where it is among the earliest arrivals. Mr. Proctor, who visited Iceland in 1837, found the Snowbird breeding there in June. He found their nests placed among large stones or in the fissures of rocks, composed of dry grass lined with hair and feathers. The eggs were from four to six in number. The male attends the female during incubation. Mr. Proctor states that he has seen this bird, when coming from the nest, rise up in the air and sing sweetly, with its wings and tail spread in the manner of the Tree Pipit. Linnæus, in his Tour in Lapland, mentions seeing these birds in that country about the end of May, and also in July. He also mentions that this bird is the only living thing that has been seen two thousand feet above the line of perpetual snow in the Lapland Alps. This bird also breeds on the Faroe Islands. Mr. Hewitson found its nest in Norway. It contained young, and was built under some loose stones. Young birds have also been noticed early in August among the Grampians, in Scotland, rendering it probable that they breed in that locality, and perhaps in considerable numbers. As the severity of winter increases, they leave the heaths where they have fed upon the seeds of grasses, and descend to the lowlands, frequenting the oat-stubbles, and, when the snow is deep, approaching the coast. Their call-note is pleasing, and is often repeated during their flight, which they make in a very compact body. Before settling on the ground they make sudden wheels, coming almost into collision with each other, uttering at the same time a peculiar guttural note. They run on the ground with all the ease of Larks, and rarely perch. Temminck states that they are very abundant in winter along the sea-coast of Holland.

Their appearance in Massachusetts is usually with the first heavy falls of snow, in December and January. They are most abundant in the open places near the sea-coast, and formerly were very numerous in the marshes between Boston and Brookline. A wounded male in full adult plumage was taken by me, in 1838, and kept some time in confinement. It would not accustom itself to a cage, and a large box was prepared in which it could run more at large. It fed readily on grain and cracked corn, delighted to bathe itself several times in the day, but would not be reconciled to my near presence. On my approach it would rush about its prison, uttering its peculiar call-notes, blending with them a loud guttural cry of alarm. As the spring approached, it warbled occasionally a few notes, but uttered from time to time such mournful cries, as if bewailing its captivity, that it would have been released, had its crippled condition permitted it to take care of itself. It was given in charge of a friend, but did not live through the heat of the ensuing summer.

It is stated that a nest of this bird was found among the White Mountains by Mr. Kirk Boott, of Boston, in the summer of 1834. It contained young birds. This, if the identification was correct, was probably an accidental occurrence. None have been noticed there since, nor have I ever been able to find any of the permanent residents among the mountains that have met with these birds in that region, except in winter.

The only authenticated nest and eggs (10,433) in the Smithsonian collection were received from Mr. R. MacFarlane, with the parent, taken on the Arctic coast east of Fort Anderson, and having on the label, “Nest situated in a cave in a sand-bank.” The nest is deeply saucer-shaped, and composed of wiry grass-stems, with a few feathers in the lining; external diameter 3.75 inches, internal about 3.00; depth, 2.50 externally and 1.50 internally. The eggs, five in number, are of a dull white, with perhaps a faint bluish cast, sprinkled and spattered with dilute yellowish-rufous, the markings most numerous toward the larger end; they measure .95 of an inch in length by .64 in breadth.

Plectrophanes lapponicus, SELBY.

LAPLAND LONGSPUR.

“_Fringilla lapponica_, LINN. Fauna Suecica, 1761, sp. 235.”—IB. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 317. FORSTER, Phil. Trans. LXII, 1772, 404. _Emberiza (Plectrophanes) lapponica_, SW. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 248, pl. xlviii. _Emberiza lapponica_, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 473, pl. 365. _Plectrophanes lapponicus_, “SELBY,” BON. List, 1838.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 98.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 50, pl. 152.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 433.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. A. S. I, 1869, 283 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 178.—SAMUELS, 300. “_Centrophanes lapponicus_, KAUP, Entw. Gesch. Europe Thierw. 1829.”—CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 127. “_Fringilla calcarata_, PALL. Itin. 710, sp. 20,” French ed. III, 1793, 464, pl. i. _Centrophanes calcaratus_, GRAY, List Gen. 1841, App. 1842, 11.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Head all round, and neck black, extending on the jugulum in a crescentic patch; a broad line from above and behind the eye, sides of neck, a patch in the black of hind head, and whole under parts, white; the sides of body streaked broadly with black. A broad half-collar of chestnut on back of neck, separated from the hood narrowly, and from the auriculars and throat broadly, by the white stripe from the eye. Above brownish-black, the feathers sharply edged with brownish-yellow. Outer tail-feathers white, except the basal portion of inner web, and a shaft streak at end; next feather with a white streak in end, rest black. Legs black; bill yellow, tipped with black. In winter plumage the black and other markings overlaid by rusty and fulvous; beneath by whitish. _Female_ with the black feathers of head edged with yellowish-rusty; the throat white, bordered on the sides and behind by blackish; feathers edged with grayish-white, the rufous of nape obscure, and streaked with blackish. Length of male, 6.25; wing, 3.90; tail, 2.80.

[Line drawing: 19647 ♂]

HAB. Northern portions of the Old and the New World; breeding in arctic and subarctic regions, and in winter descending southward, as far at least as New York, Southern Illinois, and Fort Garland, New Mexico.

Autumnal specimens, of both sexes, differ in having the pattern of coloration obscured by ochraceous borders to the feathers, and a general rusty cast to the plumage.

There appears to be no difference between North American and European specimens of this bird.

HABITS. The Lapland Longspur is an Arctic resident, belonging equally to the two continents, rarely descending even in winter to temperate regions, and then chiefly in its immature plumage. In Europe, according to Yarrell, only a few specimens have been found in the British Islands, and these were single individuals, mostly found in company with Larks. They have also been taken in France, in Belgium, and in different parts of Germany. Degland states that these birds are occasionally snared on the coast at Dunkirk, and in the neighborhood of Antwerp, but these are always young males in their winter plumage.

Pennant states that it is found in Siberia, and near the Ural Mountains, migrating in the winter as far south as Switzerland; and, according to Necker, they have also been taken, always in company with Larks, in the vicinity of Geneva. It inhabits Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Spitzbergen, Iceland, and Greenland, in the summer.

Richardson mentions that the Lapland Bunting is common in the fur regions, wintering on the coast of Hudson’s Bay. During its stay it feeds on grass-seed, the fruit of the juniper, and the pines. As he never met with these birds during the winter, he suspects that their principal retreats are on the borders of Lakes Huron and Superior, and the country westward. In 1827 they appeared on the plains, at the Carlton House, about the middle of May, in very large flocks, in company with Shore Larks and the _P. picta_, frequenting the open spots where the fires had destroyed the grass. In the same season they came a few days later to the Cumberland House, and kept constantly about the furrows of the new-ploughed fields. The year before they had been, in smaller flocks, in the vicinity of Fort Franklin, latitude 65°, in the beginning of May. Their crops were found filled with seeds of the alpine arbutus.

Mr. Audubon met with them in enormous flocks in Kentucky, about February 15, 1819. They were in company with the Shore Larks and the Snow Buntings. None of these were in perfect plumage.

Mr. Ridgway cites this as a common winter visitant in Southern Illinois, abundant in unusually severe winters, either in large flocks by itself, or a few individuals mixed up in flocks of Shore Larks.

Mr. Dall gives May 12 as the date of the first arrival of these birds at Nulato, and adds that it is not at any time a very common bird. He was not able to find its nest at Nulato, but was informed by the Indians that it builds on the bare hillsides, in hillocks of grass, and that it does not leave the nest when any one approaches, but sits perfectly still, and thus often escapes detection. He considers it a very fine singer. Specimens were received from Sitka, obtained by Bischoff. To this account Mr. Bannister adds that it is by far the most abundant of the land-birds found at St. Michael’s. It appeared on that island about the 6th of May, and from that time until about the middle or latter part of September they were observed in great numbers all over the island. He, too, was not successful in finding its nest, though the birds were started up by hundreds on every walk over the island. From this he infers that they must be very carefully concealed. He often searched for them, but always with the same result. Mr. Bannister regarded this species as decidedly the best songster of its family.

In the far North it is an extremely abundant species from one ocean to the other, in the winter moving farther south, to the United States, in large flocks. It has not been found in California, but in the central and eastern regions has been obtained as far south as Leavenworth, Kan., Racine, Wis., Boston, and New York. It is stated by different observers, that, like the Lark, it sings only while in motion in the air, or while suspended, and that its notes are agreeable and melodious.

According to Richardson, they breed in moist meadows on the shores of the Arctic Sea, the nest being placed in a small hillock, among moss and stones. It is composed externally of dry stems of grass, interwoven to a considerable thickness, and lined very neatly and compactly with deer’s hair. The eggs, seven in number, he describes as pale ochre-yellow, spotted with brown. Sir James Ross found them by no means numerous in the higher northern latitudes, and obtained one nest, containing five eggs, in July.

According to Holböll, this bird is common along the shores of both North and South Greenland. They reach Godhaab in the beginning of May, and Godhaven a month later. Their migrations do not take place all at once, but they are constantly arriving during the month. It remains in South Greenland until the beginning of September, and longer if the deep snows do not drive it away. This bird is never met on shipboard until the vessels are in Davis Strait, proving that their migrations must be from America. The Greenlanders call it Narksamatak (inhabitant of the plains),—an appropriate name, as it only lives on the lowlands near the sea-shore, where it builds its nest in the manner of the Lark, in the grass, or among the lichens. Its five eggs, of a dirty olive-color spotted with brown, are smaller than those of _P. nivalis_. The song of the male bird, as it hovers in the air or rocks on a swaying twig, is very clear and melodious. It is even known as the Greenland Nightingale. Its food is seeds, and it is not known to seek insect-larvæ on the houses of the Greenlanders, as does the _P. nivalis_. In their winter dress they all resemble the female in her summer plumage, only in the male some black is seen in the head-feathers.

Fabricius describes its eggs as five or six in number, of a reddish-gray with brownish spots. Degland describes their ground-color as an ashy-gray, covered with spots of light brown, with lines and spots of deep brown, and also of clear black.

Eggs from Anderson River exhibit great variations in their appearance, more from the difference in the distribution of their spots than from variations in colors. Where distinctly visible, the ground-color appears to be of yellowish-gray, frequently so thickly spotted as not to be recognizable. The blotches are of various shades of brown, with shadings of olive, purple, or red, and at times almost black. In some, fine olive-brown dots cover the egg so completely as to make it appear as of one uniform deep color. In others the brown is lighter and more of a reddish hue, and again in others the markings are in irregular distribution, and of different shades. They measure .80 by .60 of an inch.

Nest with eggs (7414), collected on Anderson River, Franklin Bay, June 27, by R. MacFarlane, was built on the ground, and is deeply saucer-shaped, measuring 3.75 in external and 2.30 in internal diameter; the depth 2.75 exteriorly and 1.50 interiorly. It is composed of coarse wiry grass-stems, and softly lined with feathers of _Lagopus_. The eggs, five in number, have the ground-color light umber-drab, this faintly blotched with deeper livid slate, and with a few straggly black lines, much as in certain _Icteridæ_ and in _Chondestes_. They measure .86 of an inch in length by .63 in breadth.

Plectrophanes pictus, SWAINSON.

SMITH’S BUNTING; PAINTED LONGSPUR.

_Emberiza (Plectrophanes) picta_, SW. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 250, pl. 49 (spring).—NUTT. Man. II, 589. _Plectrophanes pictus_, AUD. Syn. 1839, 99.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 52, pl. cliii (Richardson’s specimen).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 434.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. A. S. I, 1869, 283 (Alaska). _Emberiza picta_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 91, pl. cccc. _Centrophanes pictus_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851, 127. _Plectrophanes smithi_, AUD. Birds Am. VII, 1844, 337, pl. cccclxxxvii (winter).

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Spring. Top and sides of head black. A line from bill over the eye, lores, lower and posterior border of the black cheeks, ears (encircled by black), and a small patch in the nape, white. Entire under parts, and extending round neck to nape (where it bounds abruptly the black of head), buff or light cinnamon-yellow; the under tail-covert paler; the inside of wings, white. Feathers of upper surfaces black, edged with yellowish-gray; shoulders or lesser coverts and the greater black; middle white, forming a conspicuous patch. Quills edged externally with white, this involving the whole outer web of outermost primary. Whole of outer and most of second tail-feather white. Bill dusky; lower mandible and legs yellowish. Length, 5.50; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.75; bill, .45.

_Female._ The markings of male faintly indicated, but the black and buff wanting. Head above brown, streaked centrally with paler. A narrow dark line on each side the throat, and brownish streaks across the jugulum, and along sides of body. Traces visible of the white marks of the head. Bill and feet as in the male.

HAB. Prairies of Illinois and Missouri Plains, in winter; in summer north to the Arctic Ocean.

This species is quite similar in form to _P. lapponicus_, although with slenderer bill, and perhaps longer hind claw. While the colors of adult males are very different, the females have a decided resemblance; they may, however, be distinguished in all stages by the black or dusky legs of _lapponicus_ and the yellow of _pictus_, and perhaps by the more dusky upper mandible of the latter.

HABITS. This species was first obtained by Sir John Richardson’s party, and described by Swainson in the _Fauna Boreali-Americana_. It was observed associating with the Lapland Buntings on the banks of the Saskatchewan, but no information was obtained in regard to its breeding-habits. No specimens in the mature plumage are known to have been obtained in the United States, but birds in the immature plumage are not unfrequent, in early spring, throughout Illinois. Mr. Audubon, in company with Mr. Harris and Mr. Bell, obtained specimens of these birds near Edwardsville, and described them as a new species. Mr. Bell states, in regard to these birds, that he found them very abundant on the low prairie near a lake, a few miles from Edwardsville. They were generally in large flocks, and when once on the ground they began to separate. They ran very nimbly, in a manner resembling that of the Grass Finch, and when they arose, which they rarely did unless they were nearly approached, they uttered a sharp click, repeated several times in quick succession, and moved with an easy undulating motion for a short distance and then alighted very suddenly, seeming to fall perpendicularly several feet to the ground. They preferred the spots where the grass was shortest. When in the air they flew in circles, to and fro, for a few minutes, and then alighted, keeping up a constant chirping or call, somewhat like that of the Red-Poll.

These birds were observed in large numbers at Fort Anderson, and on the Lower Anderson River, by Mr. MacFarlane, and a large number of their nests obtained. These were all on the ground, and usually in open spaces, but also in the vicinity of trees. The usual number of eggs found in a nest appears to have been four. The nests, for the most part, were constructed of fine dry grasses, carefully arranged, and lined with down, feathers, or finer materials similar to those of the outer portions. In a few there were no feathers; in others, feathers in different proportions; and in a few the down and feathers composed the chief portion of the nest, with only a few leaves as a base to the nest. They were sometimes sunk in excavations made by the birds, or placed in a tussock of grass, and, in one instance, placed in the midst of a bed of Labrador tea.

They were also obtained at Fort Yukon, at the mouth of Porcupine River, by Strachan Jones. They were much more abundant in the Mackenzie River district.

Specimens of this bird, in the fall plumage, were obtained from Fort Simpson, where Mr. B. R. Ross states that it appears on its way north in May. They resort to the fields around the fort in search of grain. Although these birds keep entirely apart from the _P. nivalis_, Mr. Ross has frequently observed several _P. lapponicus_ associating with them.

When their nests are approached, the female quietly slips off, while the male bird may be seen hopping or flying from tree to tree in the neighborhood of the nest, and will at times do all he can to induce intruders to withdraw from the neighborhood.

The eggs, five in number, have a light clay-colored ground, are marked with obscure blotches of lavender and darker lines, dots, and blotches of dark purplish-brown. They measure .80 by .65 of an inch.

Plectrophanes ornatus, TOWNS.

CHESTNUT-COLLARED BUNTING; BLACK-BELLIED LONGSPUR.

_Plectrophanes ornatus_, TOWNSEND, J. Ac. Nat. Sc. VII, 1837, 189.—IB. Narrative, 1839, 344.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 99.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 53, pl. cliv.—NUTT. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 537.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 435. _Emberiza ornata_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 44, pl. cccxciv, f. 1. _Centrophanes ornatus_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 127.

SP. CHAR. Bill dark plumbeous. _Male._ Crown, a narrow crescent on the side of the head, with a line running into it from behind the eye, entire breast and upper part of belly all round, black; throat and sides of the head, lower part of belly and under tail-coverts, with bases of the tail-feathers, white. The white on the tail-feathers runs forward as an acute point. A chestnut band on the back of the neck extending round on the sides. Rest of upper parts grayish-brown, streaked with darker. Middle coverts with a white patch. Lesser wing-coverts like the back. Legs dusky, bill blue, darker at tip. Length about 5.25 inches; wing, 3.20; tail, 2.30; tarsus, .75.

_Female_ lacking the black and chestnut colors; the black of the breast indicated by dusky streaks and a line of streaks each side of the throat.

HAB. Plains of the Upper Missouri. San Antonio, Texas, spring (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 486).

HABITS. This species was first discovered by Mr. Townsend, who procured a single specimen, a male, on the Upper Missouri River. He describes it as by no means a common bird, keeping in pairs and living exclusively on the ground. It was remarkably shy, and Mr. Townsend was not able to procure more than a single specimen.

Mr. Nuttall states that he met with this bird early in May, on the wide grassy plains of the Platte. The birds were already paired for the season. He heard them utter no notes other than a chirp, as they kept busily foraging for their subsistence.

Mr. J. A. Allen (American Naturalist, May, 1872) speaks of this bird and the Lark Bunting as by far the most interesting species seen by him in Western Kansas. They were not only characteristic of the region, but were also among the few birds strictly confined to the arid plains. They were quite abundant, but were only met with on the high ridges and dry plateaus, where they seemed to live somewhat in colonies. At a few localities they were always numerous, but elsewhere would be frequently not met with in a whole day’s drive. They were very wary and tenacious of life, often flying a long distance after having been shot through vital parts. Most of the specimens had to be killed on the wing, at a long range. They are strong fliers, and seem to delight in flying in the strongest gales, when all the other birds appear to move with difficulty, and to keep themselves concealed among the grass. This bird sings while on the wing.

Mr. H. E. Dresser, in his paper on the birds of Southern Texas, mentions finding the Chestnut-collared Bunting in flocks early in the spring, on the prairies near San Antonio, but it was not a common bird there.

Dr. Woodhouse found this species quite rare in the Indian Territory, where he was only able to secure a single specimen.

Captain Blakiston met with this species on the Saskatchewan Plains on the 15th of May, 1858,—a higher range than has been noticed by any one else.

Dr. Heermann, while on a trip to the Rocky Mountains in 1843, met with this species in small flocks and pairs, scattered over the prairies of the Platte River, and was so fortunate as to meet with one of its nests. It was built on the ground, and was made of an interweaving of fine grasses and lined with hair. He describes the eggs, which were four in number, as having a white ground, with black lines at the larger end, and a few faint blotches of a neutral tint scattered over their whole surface.

This description does not quite correspond with the eggs collected by Mr. Audubon on the Upper Missouri. These have a clay-colored ground with the slightest possible tinge of green, and are marked with fine dots of purplish-brown, and larger markings, blotches, and short lines of dark brown. They measure .70 by .55 of an inch, and have a strong resemblance to the eggs of both _P. pictus_ and _P. maccowni_.

Five eggs of this species, obtained at Fort Hays, Kansas, June 1, 1871, by Mr. J. A. Allen, measure .75 of an inch in length by .58 in breadth. They are small in proportion to the bird, and are somewhat pointed at one end. Their ground is a gray or grayish-white shade of stone-color, and this is somewhat sparingly marked with blotches of dark brown, almost black, and lighter markings of purplish-brown. The nest was placed on the ground, and was composed altogether of fine stems of grasses.