_Calcarius lapponicus lapponicus_
A sparrow-like bird, with reddish brown wings, a
black or blackish breast, white, streaked
underparts and a brownish back. L. 6-1/4.
_Range._ Nests in Arctic regions, wintering
southward, rarely and irregularly in the Atlantic
States, to New York (casually South Carolina) and
more commonly in the Mississippi Valley to Ohio
and Texas.
Washington, W.V. one instance, Dec. Ossining.
W.V., casual, Cambridge, one record. N. Ohio,
tolerably common W.V., Nov. 15-Apl. 25. Glen
Ellyn, common W.V., Oct. 16-May 16. SE. Minn.,
common W.V.
[Illustration: LAPLAND LONGSPUR.
Adult male in summer. In winter the throat and breast are mixed black
and white.]
A rare visitor from the far North who, if we see it at all will probably
be found in the company of Horned Larks or Snow Buntings. It is a
browner bird than either of them, so while this is not a case of 'birds
of a feather' it _is_ a case of birds of a long hind toe-nail, since all
three are distinguished by having a toe-nail actually longer than its
toe. All three are walkers, which means also that they are ground-birds
rather than tree-birds, and the tracks they leave in the snow, or on the
beach, distinguish them from other birds if not from each other.