“_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.