Chapter C: S. Paine, of East Bethel, Vt., found a nest of this species about (22)

This is considerably the largest of the American species of _Leucosticte_, and has a longer bill. It also has the chocolate and rose color darker, and the rose extending farther forward on the breast than in other species. It could only be confounded with _C. littoralis_ as to color, both having the head above, and on the sides, ashy, covering the whole ear-coverts; but the dusky patch on the crown is more extended, the ash of chin more restricted, and the throat darker. The rose extends farther along the breast, and the tints are different. The size is much larger.

A specimen, apparently young, perhaps a female, differs in duller tints, and a tinge of ochreous-yellow on the middle of the abdomen and crissum. The lining of the wings is without any rose-color.

Bonaparte and Schlegel describe the young of this species as without rose-color.

Specimens of this bird were obtained at St. George’s Island, with the eggs (which are white), by Mr. W. H. Dall. Dr. Minor found it at Unalaschka.

HABITS. The Gray-eared Finch is the largest species of this remarkable genus known to inhabit North America. Thus far, except in one instance, it has been met with only in the Aleutian Islands and Unalaschka. In the latter place they were met with by Dr. T. T. Minor, and in the former by Mr. Dall.

Mr. R. Brown (Ibis, 1868, p. 432) states that a single specimen of this very rare bird was taken at Fort Rupert, Vancouver Island, in June, 1862, by Mr. P. M. Compton, the officer in charge of that station. This, however, may have belonged to the var. _littoralis_.

Mr. Dall states that they abound on the Pribylow and the other Aleutian Islands. A number of specimens were obtained on the St. George’s in August, though at that time they were moulting. At that season this bird had no song except a clear chirp, sounding like _wéet-a wèet-a-wée-weet_. It was on the wing a great part of the time, rarely alighting on the ground, but darting rapidly in a series of descending and ascending curves. At one time it would swing on the broad top of an umbelliferous plant, and at another alight on some ledge of the perpendicular bluff, jumping from point to point, as if delighting to test its own agility. Mr. Dall adds that its nest is a simple hollow on one of the ledges, provided with a few straws or a bit of moss. They deposit their eggs in May, and these are four in number. In August their young were fully fledged.

They feed on the seeds of grasses and other small plants, but in the crop of one Mr. Dall found two or three small beetles. They were also received from Kodiak, through Mr. Bischoff.

Their eggs are of a grayish-white, with a slight tinge of yellowish, and measure .95 by .70 of an inch.

GENUS PLECTROPHANES, MEYER.

_Plectrophanes_, MEYER, “Taschenbuch, 1810.” Agassiz. (Type, _Emberiza
nivalis_.)
_Centrophanes_, KAUP, “Entw. Gesch. Europ. Thierwelt, 1829.” Agassiz.
(Type, _E. lapponica_.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill variable; conical; the lower mandible higher than the upper; the sides of both mandibles (in the typical species) guarded by a closely applied brush of stiffened bristly feathers directed forwards, and in the upper jaw concealing the nostrils; the outlines of the bill nearly straight, or slightly curved; the lower jaw considerably broader at the base than the upper, and wider than the gonys is long. Tarsi considerably longer than the middle toe; the lateral toes nearly equal (the inner claw largest), and reaching to the base of the middle claw. The hinder claw very long, moderately curved and acute, considerably longer than its toe; the toe and claw together reaching to the middle of the middle claw, or beyond its tip. Wings very long and much pointed, reaching nearly to the end of the tail; the first quill longest; the others rapidly graduated; the tertiaries a little longer than the secondaries. Tail moderate, about two thirds as long as the wings; nearly even, or slightly emarginated.

[Line drawing: _Plectrophanes nivalis._
19632]

The species of this genus are essentially boreal and cosmopolitan, although America possesses four species not found, like her two others, in the Old World. They are all ground-birds, collecting in large flocks, in autumn and winter, on prairies and plains, some of the species passing far to the southward. There is much variation in the color, and in the details of structure of bill and feet. In _P. nivalis_ alone is the fringe of bristly feathers along the side of the bill very distinct. The gonys also is exceptionally short, being less than half the length of the culmen.

The females are less strongly marked than the males, lacking the distinct patches of black (which, however, are nearly always faintly indicated), and other characters, and are streaked like the _Spizellinæ_.

Species and Varieties.

A. Prevailing color white.

1. P. nivalis. ♂. Back, scapulars, ends of tertials, alula,
terminal half of primaries and the middle tail-feathers, deep
black; otherwise pure white. ♀. The black replaced by grayish
with black spots; crown grayish spotted with black. Young
considerably tinged with ochraceous. _Hab._ Circumpolar
regions; south in winter into the United States.

B. Above brown, spotted with black. ♂. Crown black.

_a._ Six to ten middle tail-feathers almost wholly black; the
rest without black ends. ♂ with a nuchal collar of rufous or
buff, and without rufous on the wings.

2. P. lapponicus. ♂. Head, all round, and jugulum, deep
black; a post-ocular stripe, running downward behind the
black jugular patch, and entire lower parts from the jugulum,
white. Nuchal collar chestnut-rufous. ♀ with the black areas
merely indicated by a dusky clouding, and merely a tinge of
rufous round the nape. _Hab._ Circumpolar regions; south in
winter into the United States.

3. P. pictus. ♂. Head above and laterally deep black,
bordered anteriorly and below with white; a post-ocular
stripe, and an ovate auricular spot of the same. Nuchal
collar and entire lower surface bright buff. ♀. Pale
grayish-buff, darker above; above distinctly, and on the
jugulum obsoletely, streaked with black. _Hab._ Interior
plains of North America, north to Arctic Ocean.

4. P. ornatus. ♂ Head above, and whole breast and abdomen,
black; a superciliary stripe, side of head, chin, throat,
anal region and crissum, white; nuchal collar rufous. ♀
hardly distinguishable from that of _P. pictus_.

_a._ Lesser wing-coverts brownish-gray; black feathers of
breast, etc., without rufous edges. _Hab._ Interior plains
of United States … var. _ornatus_.

_b._ Lesser wing-coverts black; black feathers of breast,
etc., with rufous edges. _Hab._ Southern plains of North
America, and table-land of Mexico … var. _melanomus_.

_b._ Only two middle tail-feathers almost wholly black; the
rest with black ends. ♂ without a nuchal collar of rufous or
buff, and with rufous on the wings.

5. P. maccowni. ♂. Crown, and a broad crescent on the
jugulum, black; rest of head and neck ashy, approaching white
on the throat and over the eye; beneath white, above
grayish-brown, streaked with black; middle wing-coverts
rufous. ♀. Above yellowish-umber, beneath yellowish-white;
thickly streaked above, unstreaked beneath. No rufous on
wings, and no black on head or jugulum. _Hab._ Plains, from
Texas, northward.

There seems to be no special reason for subdividing this genus, although this has been done,—_P. nivalis_ being alone retained in _Plectrophanes_; _P. maccowni_ forming the type and sole member of the genus _Rhyncophanes_ (Baird, 1858), and the rest coming under _Centrophanes_ (Kaup). The characters upon which these are based are very trivial, being mainly the varying degree of size of the bill and length of the hind claw. In this latter respect there is too much individual variation in the same species to admit of this being available as a specific, much less as a subgeneric character, while the size of the bill is not of more than specific importance.

Plectrophanes nivalis, MEYER.

SNOW-BUNTING.

_Emberiza nivalis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 308 (not _Fringilla
nivalis_, L.).—FORSTER, Phila. Trans. LXII, 1772, 403.—WILSON, Am.
Orn. III, 1811, 86, pl. xxi.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 575; V,
1839, 496, pl. 189. _Emberiza (Plectrophanes) nivalis_, BON. Obs.
1825, No. 89. “_Plectrophanes nivalis_, MEYER.”—BON. List,
1838.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 103.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 55, pl.
155.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 345 (Spitzbergen).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 432.—NEWTON, Ibis, 1865, 502.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. A.
S. I, 1869, 282 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 177.—SAMUELS, 296.
_Emberiza montana_, GMELIN, Syst. I, 1788, 867, 25. _Emberiza
mustelina_, GMELIN, Syst. I, 1788, 867, 7. _Emberiza glacialis_,
LATHAM, Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 398.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Colors, in spring plumage, entirely black and white. Middle of back between scapulars, terminal half of primaries and tertiaries, and two innermost tail-feathers, black; elsewhere pure white. Legs black at all seasons. In winter dress white beneath; the head and rump yellowish-brown, as also some blotches on the side of the breast; middle of back brown, streaked with black; white on wings and tail much more restricted. Length about 6.75; wings, 4.35; tail, 3.05; first quill longest. _Female._ Spring, continuous white beneath only; above entirely streaked, the feathers having blackish centres and whitish edges; the black streaks predominate on the back and crown. _Young._ Light gray above with obsolete dusky streaks on the back; throat and jugulum paler gray, the latter with obsolete streaks; rest of lower parts dull white. Wing-coverts, secondaries, and tail-feathers broadly edged with light ochraceous-brown.

HAB. Northern America from Atlantic to Pacific; south into the United States in winter, as far as Georgia and Southern Illinois.

Specimens from North America and Europe appear to be quite identical; there is, however, a great amount of variation among individuals.

HABITS. The common Snow Bunting is found throughout northern North America to the shores of the Arctic Sea, and in the winter months extends its migrations into the United States as indicated above.

Mr. Dall states that in Alaska, when observed, they went altogether in flocks. It was at times excessively common, and at others entirely absent. It builds its nests on the hillside, generally on the ground, under the lee of a stone. He obtained a large number of these birds at Nulato, in the winter of 1867-68. It was much more common there than the _P. lapponicus_, which was only seen in the spring, while this bird was there all the year round. Mr. Dall also met with these birds on St. George’s Island, and Mr. Bischoff obtained them at Sitka. According to Mr. Bannister’s observations it was altogether less abundant than the _P. lapponicus_, and seemed to prefer rather different situations. On St. Michael’s Island he never saw one of this species far from the shore, while the other species was abundant everywhere in the interior of the island. During the summer he never saw more than one or two of these birds at once, nor anywhere except on rocky points or on small rocky islands near the shore. These localities they seemed to share with the Ravens and Puffins. In the autumn they are more gregarious, but still seem to prefer the vicinity of water. Mr. Bannister also observed this bird at Unalaklik, where it is common.

Wilson was of the opinion that these birds derive a considerable part of their food from the seeds of certain aquatic plants, and this he supposed one of the principal reasons why they prefer remote northern regions intersected with streams, ponds, lakes, and arms of the sea, abounding with such plants. On Seneca River, near Lake Ontario, in October, he met with a large flock feeding on the surface of the water, supported on the close tops of weeds that rose from the bottom. They were running about with great activity, and the stomachs of those he shot were filled not only with the seeds of that plant, but also with minute shell-fish that adhered to the leaves.

Richardson states that this species breeds in the most northern of our Arctic islands, and on all the shores of the continent, from Chesterfield’s Inlet to Behring Strait. The most southerly of its breeding-places known to him was Southampton Island, in the 62d parallel, where Captain Lyons found a nest on the grave of an Esquimaux child. Its nest was usually made of dry grass, neatly lined with deer’s hair and a few feathers, and is generally fixed in the crevice of a rock, or in a loose pile of timbers or stones. The eggs are described as of a greenish-white, with a circle of irregular umber-brown spots round the larger end, with numerous blotches of subdued lavender-purple. July 22, in removing some drift timber on a beach at Cape Parry, he discovered a nest on the ground, containing four young Snowbirds. Care was taken not to injure them, and while they were seated at breakfast, at a distance of only two or three feet, the parent birds made frequent visits to their offspring, each time bringing grubs in their bills. The Snowbirds are in no apparent haste to leave for the South on the approach of winter, but linger about the forts and open places, picking up seeds, until the snow becomes too deep. It is not until December or January that they retire to the south of the Saskatchewan. It returns to that river about the middle of February, by April it has reached the 65th parallel, and by the beginning of May it is found on the shores of the Polar Sea. At this period it feeds on the buds of the _Saxifraga oppositifolia_, one of the earliest of the Arctic plants. The young are fed with insects.

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.

Plectrophanes ornatus, var. melanomus, BAIRD.

BLACK-SHOULDERED LONGSPUR.

_Plectrophanes melanomus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 436, pl. lxxiv,
f. 2.—HEERMANN, X, c, 13.

SP. CHAR. Bill yellowish, dark brown along the culmen. _Male._ Crown, a short stripe behind the eye, and a short crescent behind the ear-coverts, entire breast as far back as the thighs, and the lesser wing-coverts, black. The black on the breast margined with dark cinnamon. Sides of head, chin, throat, and region behind the black of the belly, white. A broad half-collar of dark cinnamon-brown on the back of the neck. Tail-feathers mostly white; the innermost tipped with dark brown; the white ending in an acute angle. Length, 5.30; wing, 3.40; tail, 2.60. (No. 6,290.)

HAB. Eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, Mexico, on the table-lands, north to Upper Missouri. Orizaba (SCLATER, 1860, 251); San Antonio, Texas, spring (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 486); Fort Whipple, Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 84); Vera Cruz, plateau, breeding (SUMICHRAST, I, 551).

As already stated, this bird is very similar to _P. ornatus_. It appears to be a very little larger, or, at any rate, with considerably longer wings. The bill, however, is shorter and stouter; the hind claw decidedly longer. The chestnut of the back of the neck is darker. The white on the outer web of the tertiaries and secondaries is much purer and wider. The rufous margins of the pectoral feathers we have never seen in _P. ornatus_. The most striking peculiarity, however, is in having the shoulders black, instead of brown like the rest of the wing-feathers, edged with paler. Both have the white posterior row of lesser wing-coverts.

An immature male (6,291) has the black of the head mixed with brown, and a maxillary series of spots on each side of the throat. A female has a similar series of spots; the under parts generally being brownish-white, the shafts across the breast and along the sides streaked with brown, the concealed portions of the feathers light brown, fading out to the whitish exterior. There is no black on the shoulder, nor chestnut on the nape.

Fully mature specimens of this bird and of _ornatus_ are so rare in collections as to render it difficult to decide positively as to their true relationship. It is by no means impossible that they merely represent different conditions of plumage of one species, but for the present, at least, we prefer to consider them as distinct. The _P. melanomus_ is resident on the table-lands of Mexico.

HABITS. Of the habits and general history of this species, very little is known. Its close resemblance to _P. ornatus_ is suggestive of its probably equally close similarity in nesting, eggs, and manner of feeding. Specimens have been received from Mexico, from Fort Thorn, from New Mexico, Pole Creek, and the Black Hills. From the last-named places they were obtained in August and September.

Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds observed in Lieutenant Parke’s route near the 32d parallel, mentions having met with these birds, which he calls the Black-shouldered Longspur, at a large prairie-dog village some miles west of Puerto del Dado. They were in flocks, and were associated with _P. maccowni_. From that point to the Rio Grande he found both of these species abundant wherever they struck isolated water-holes, these being the only places for miles around where drink can be procured. When shot at, they rise as if to go away, but are forced to return, after describing a few curves, to the only spot where they can procure their necessary drink. They may thus be killed in great numbers. Dr. Heermann states that he has seen from a hundred to a hundred and fifty thus brought down in four or five discharges of a gun.

Mr. Dresser states that on the 4th of April a small flock of what was at first supposed to be the _P. ornatus_ was noticed near the town of San Antonio. They were pursued, and found on the banks of the San Pedro. They were not very shy, and specimens were procured which proved to be of this species. This is the only time that they have been observed in that part of the country, though they may have been mistaken for other species.

1. Plectrophanes maccowni. ♂ Dakota, 35951.
2. “ nivalis. ♂ Ft. Resolution, B. A., 19632.
3. “ ornatus. ♂ Ft. Union, Dakota, 1907.
4. “ pictus. ♂ Ft. Simpson, B. A., 19659.
5. “ “ ♀ 19664.
6. “ melanomus. ♂ Dakota, 35359.
7. “ lapponicus. ♂ Ft. Resolution, B. A., 19647.
8. Passerculus savanna. D. C., 10145.
9. “ sandwichensis. Washington Ter., 6343.
10. “ anthinus. Cal. (Petaluma), 5555.
11. “ alaudinus. Utah, 53483.
12. “ rostratus. Cal. (San Diego), 6340.]

Dr. Coues mentions the taking of a single specimen of this species, October 17, on the open grassy plains of Arizona.

This species is also given by Mr. Sumichrast as a resident throughout the year of the great plains of the plateau of Mexico. From them it occasionally descends to the distant intervals, as far as Orizaba, or at the elevation, above the gulf-level, of 1,220 metres.

Plectrophanes maccowni, LAWRENCE.

CHESTNUT-SHOULDERED LONGSPUR; MACCOWN’S BUNTING.

_Plectrophanes maccowni_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, Sept. 1851,
122. Western Texas.—CASSIN, Illust. I, viii, 1855, 228, pl.
xxxix.—HEERM. X, c, p. 13.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 437.

[Line drawing: _Plectrophanes maccownii_, Lawr.
6282 ♂]

SP. CHAR. _Male in spring._ Top of head, a broad stripe each side the throat from lower mandible, and a broad crescent on jugulum, black; side of head including lores and band above the eye, throat, and under parts, ashy-white; ear-coverts bordered above and behind by blackish, running out at the maxillary stripe. Breast just behind the black crescent and sides, showing dark bases of feathers. Upper parts ashy, tinged with yellowish on the mandible, and streaked with dusky; least so on nape and rump. Lesser wing-coverts ashy; median chestnut-brown, with blackish bases sometimes evident; the quills all bordered broadly externally with whitish, becoming more ashy on secondaries. Tail-feathers white except at the concealed bases and the ends, which have a transverse (not oblique) tip of blackish; the outermost white to the end; the two central like the back. Bill dark plumbeous; legs blackish. In winter the markings more or less obscured; the bill and legs more yellowish.

_Female_ lacks the black markings, which, however, are indicated obsoletely as in other _Plectrophanes_; there is no trace of chestnut on the wings, no streaks on the breast. Length, 5.50; wing, 3.60; tail, 2.50; bill, .46.

HAB. Eastern slopes of Rocky Mountains, from Texas to Upper Missouri.

This species varies considerably in markings, but is readily recognized among other _Plectrophanes_ in all stages by short hind toe, very stout bill, and the transverse dark bar at the end of all tail-feathers except the inner and outer.

HABITS. Maccown’s Lark Bunting is yet another of the various species of our birds whose history is very little known, and in regard to which the most we are able to state, at present, is that they appear in different parts of the interior plains of the United States, between the Rocky Mountains and the Missouri River and the lower tributaries of the Mississippi, extending from New Mexico and Texas northward, during the breeding-season, to the northern boundary of the United States. It was first discovered by Captain Maccown, who obtained it in Texas, where he found it in company with a flock of Shore Larks, and where it winters in considerable numbers. Mr. Dresser afterward met with it in small flocks, early in April, on the prairies near San Antonio. It was not very common, and he was only able to obtain two specimens during his stay in that section.

Dr. Heermann found this species congregated in large flocks, in company with the Black-shouldered Bunting. They were engaged in gleaning the seeds from the scanty grass, on the vast arid plains of New Mexico. Insects and berries formed also a part of their food; in search of these they showed great activity, running about with celerity and ease. In the spring, large flocks were seen at Fort Thorn, having migrated thither from the North the previous fall. With the return of mild weather they again departed for the North for the purposes of incubation. Among these large flocks Dr. Heermann noticed also the Shore Lark, but they formed only a small proportion of the whole number.

In a letter to Mr. Cassin, Dr. Heermann states that he found this species congregated with large numbers of other birds about the isolated water-holes in the barren plains of New Mexico.

Mr. J. A. Allen states (Am. Nat., May, 1872) that, during a few weeks’ stay near Fort Hays in midwinter, he found Maccown’s Longspur tolerably frequent in that vicinity.

An egg of this species, in the collection of the late Dr. Henry Bryant, measures .80 by .60 of an inch. Its ground-color is a light bluish clay-color, marbled, dotted, blotched, and lined with light neutral tints of lavender and darker markings of purplish and reddish brown. The nest was placed on the ground, and is composed entirely of coarse grass-stems (No. 3,521, J. Pearsall, Fort Benton).

SUBFAMILY PYRGITINÆ.

The introduction into the United States, at so many distant points, of the European House Sparrow (_Pyrgita domestica_) renders it necessary to introduce it with any work treating of the birds of North America, although totally different in so many features from our own native forms. I follow Degland and Gerbe in placing the genus _Pyrgita_ in a separate subfamily (_Pyrgitinæ_, see page 446), without any distinct idea of its true affinities, as it does not come legitimately within any of the subfamilies established for the American genera. In some respects similar to certain _Coccothraustinæ_, in the short tarsi and covered nostrils, the wings are shorter and more rounded, the sides of the bill with stiff bristles, etc. The much larger, more vaulted bill, weaker feet, and covered nostrils, distinguish it from _Spizellinæ_.

GENUS PYRGITA, CUVIER.

_Pyrgita_, CUVIER, R. A. 1817. (Type, _Fringilla domestica_, LINN.)
_Passer_, BRISSON, Orn. 1760. Same type. DEGLAND & GERBE, Orn. Europ.
I, 1867, 239.

GEN. CHAR. Bill robust, swollen, without any distinct ridge; upper and under outlines curved; margins inflexed; palate vaulted, without any knob; nostrils covered by sparse, short, incumbent feathers; side of bill with stiff, appressed bristles. Tarsi short and stout, about equal to or shorter than the middle toes; claws short, stout, and considerably curved. Wings longer than tail; somewhat pointed. Tail nearly even, emarginated, and slightly rounded.

Pyrgita domestica, CUV.

THE HOUSE SPARROW.

_Fringilla domestica_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. 323, 1766. _Pyrgita
domestica_, CUV. Reg. An. 2d ed. (1829), I, 439. _Passer
domesticus_, DEGLAND & GERBE, Ornith. Europ. I, 1867, 241.

[Line drawing: _Pyrgita domestica._
18788]

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Above chestnut-brown; the interscapular feathers streaked by black on inner webs; the top of head and nape, lower back, rump, and tail-coverts plain ashy; narrow frontal line, lores, chin, throat, and jugulum black; rest of under parts grayish, nearly white along median region. A broad chestnut-brown stripe from behind eye, running into the chestnut of back; cheeks and sides of neck white; outside of closed wing, pale chestnut-brown, with a broad white band on the middle coverts, and behind showing the brown quills; the lesser coverts dark chestnut like the head stripe. Tail dark brown, edged with pale chestnut. Bill black; feet reddish. Iris brown.

_Female._ Duller of color, and lacking the black of face and throat; breast and abdomen reddish-ash; cheeks ashy; a yellow-ochre band above and behind the eyes, and across the wings. Head and neck above brownish-ash; body above reddish-ash, streaked longitudinally with black.

_Male in winter._ The colors generally less distinct. Length, 6.00; wing, 2.85; tail, 2.50; tarsus, .70; middle toe and claw, .60.

The House Sparrow of Europe has been introduced into so many parts of the United States as to render it probable that at no distant day it will have become one of our most familiar species. Brought over to the New World within a comparatively few years, it has commenced to multiply about the larger cities, especially in the environs of New York, as also about Portland, Boston, Newark, and Philadelphia. The first effort made to naturalize it about Washington failed in consequence of the death of three hundred individuals imported by the Smithsonian Institution. A second, however, in 1871, was more successful. One thousand birds were let loose in the public squares of Philadelphia in the spring of 1869. In and about Havana it is said to be common, as also about Great Salt Lake, where it was recently introduced by the Mormons, according to Mr. J. A. Allen.

HABITS. The common House Sparrow of Europe has, within the past few years, achieved a right to a place in the avi-fauna of North America by its complete introduction, and its reproduction in large numbers, in various parts of the country, from Portland, Me., to Washington City, as also about Salt Lake.

The first attempt to introduce these birds, within my knowledge, was made by a gentleman named Deblois, in Portland, Me., in the fall of 1858. Six birds were set at liberty in a large garden in the central part of the city. They remained in the neighborhood through the winter, and in the sheltering porch of a neighboring church they found places of shelter and security. In the following spring three nests were built in dwarf pear-trees in the garden in which they were first set at liberty. One, at least, of these nests, was successfully occupied, and six young birds were reared from it. A second nest, with four young, was also hatched by the same pair. Neither of these nests was globular in shape, but open and coarse, built of hay and straws. These nests were taken, after their use, and came into my possession. Since then I have been informed that these birds increased and multiplied, and for a while were quite abundant in that portion of the city, and a large colony of this Sparrow appeared in the winter of 1871 in Rockland, Me.

Two years later, Mr. Eugene Schieffelin, of New York, imported and set at liberty, near Madison Square, in that city, twelve of these birds, and this he repeated for several successive summers. In 1864, fourteen birds were set at liberty in Central Park, by the Commissioners. Other birds were also brought from England, by different parties, in the Cunard steamers, and released at Jersey City. These have increased very largely, and have spread to the adjoining cities, until these birds have become familiar and social residents in all the large cities and towns within an extended area around New York, as well as in all parts of that city.