LAPLAND LONGSPUR.
Emberiza lapponica, Nilsson.
PLATE CCCLXV. Male and Female.
My first acquaintance with this species took place on the 15th of February 1819. Walking with my wife, on the afternoon of that day, in the neighbourhood of Henderson, in Kentucky, I saw immense flocks scattered over the open grounds on the elevated grassy banks of the Ohio. Having my gun with me, as usual, I procured more than sixty in a few minutes. All the youths of the village turned out on this occasion, and a relative of mine, in the course of the next day killed about six hundred. Although in rather poor condition, we found them excellent eating. Three days after they disappeared as suddenly as they had arrived, for although on the previous evening they seemed as numerous as ever, none but wounded birds were to be seen in the morning. Whilst at Shippingport, near Louisville, in the same State, I found a good number of these birds on the commons, feeding in company with Shore Larks and Snow Buntings, and obtained some dozens. Among all the specimens which I procured in that part of the country, none were in perfect or summer plumage, most of them being in the garb of the male, as represented by the second figure of my plate.
In their movements they resemble the Snow Bunting. They run and hop on the ground with ease and celerity, many making towards a tuft of withered grass at the same time, to search for the few seeds that may yet be procured around or beneath it, and all the while uttering a repetition of chips, in a rather low and plaintive accent. When on wing, to which they resorted after each discharge of the gun, or when nearly approached, they formed into compact bodies, wheeled and cut to and fro through the air, now high, now low, in the manner of Larks, alighting suddenly, and perhaps immediately flying off again to renew their curious evolutions. At times flocks composed of hundreds would settle on the top-rails of fences, or on the lower large branches of the trees in the fields; but on such occasions they appeared as much discontented as the Snow Buntings are, when they also alight on trees, fences, or houses.
The Lapland Longspur visits the neighbourhood of Louisville in Kentucky almost every year, but seldom appears when the weather is not intensely cold. I found it also in the vicinity of St Genevieve in Missouri; and it seems surprising that none were observed near the Columbia River by Dr Townsend.
The best account of this species, as observed in the northern latitudes of America where it breeds, is that given by Dr Richardson, in the Fauna Boreali-Americana. After stating that it is common in the northern regions of both continents, he says:—“I never met with this species in the interior of the Fur Countries during winter, and I suspect that its principal retreats in that season are on the borders of Lakes Huron and Superior, and in the country extending to the westward on the same parallel. In the year 1827, it appeared on the plains at Carlton House, about the middle of May, in very large flocks, among which were many Shore Larks (Alauda alpestris) and a few individuals of Emberiza picta. During their stay of ten or twelve days, they frequented open spots, where recent fires had destroyed the grass. They came to Cumberland House a few days later in the same season, and there kept constantly in the furrows of a newly ploughed field. In the preceding year they were seen, though in smaller flocks, in the vicinity of Fort Franklin (lat. 65 1/2°) in the beginning of May; and the crops of those that were then killed were filled with the seeds of the Arbutus alpina. They breed in the moist meadows on the shores of the Arctic Sea. The nest, placed on a small hillock, among moss and stones, is composed externally of the dry stems of grass, interwoven to a considerable thickness, and lined very neatly and compactly with Deer’s hair. The eggs, usually seven, are pale ochre-yellow, spotted with brown.”
The figure of the male in summer plumage represented in my plate, was drawn from a beautiful specimen in the collection of my esteemed friend, Captain James Ross of the British Navy.
Fringilla lapponica, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 317.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 440.
Lapland Longspur, Emberiza lapponica, Ch. Bonaparte. Amer. Ornith. vol. i. p. 53, pl. 13, fig. 2, Male, fig. 3, Female.
Emberiza lapponica, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis, p. 440.
Emberiza (Plectrophanes) lapponica, Lapland Buntling, Richards. and Swains. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 248.
Lapland Longspur, Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 463.
Adult Male in Summer. Plate CCCLXV. Fig 1.
Bill short, robust, tapering, somewhat compressed; the upper mandible nearly as large as the lower, its dorsal outline very slightly convex, the sides rounded, the sharp edges inflected, the marginal outline slightly angulate; lower mandible broader, with involute sharp edges. The palate with a prominent knob. Nostrils basal, round, partly concealed by the feathers.
Head of moderate size, ovate; eyes rather small; neck short, body compact. Feet of ordinary length; tarsus compressed, anteriorly covered with seven large scutella, sharp behind; toes of moderate size; the lateral toes equal, the hind toe stout. Claws long, slightly arched, laterally grooved, compressed toward the end, very acute, that of the hind toe much elongated.
Plumage soft and blended, the feathers somewhat distinct on the back and wings. Wing long, pointed; first quill longest, second scarcely shorter; secondaries emarginate. Tail rather long, deeply emarginate.
Bill yellow tipped with dusky; iris hazel; feet and claws black. The head and fore part of the neck are black; a band of white passes from the base of the upper mandible over the eye, becomes broader, and, descending on the neck, margins the black of that part. The lower parts are white, the sides streaked with black. A brownish-red crescent on the hind neck; the feathers of the upper parts black, broadly margined with yellowish-red; the first row of smaller wing-coverts margined with white, the secondary coverts tipped with the same; the primary quills narrowly edged with reddish-white, the secondary with yellowish-red; as are the tail-feathers, of which the two outer have a wedge-shaped white spot at the end.
Length to end of tail 6 3/12 inches; wing from flexure 3 10/12; tail 2 1/12; bill along the ridge 6/12, along the edge of lower mandible 8/12; tarsus 9/12; hind toe 4/12, its claw 7/12; middle toe 7 1/2/12, its claw 4/12.
Male in winter. Plate CCCLXV. Fig. 2.
Bill dull yellow, tipped with dusky; feet and claws black. Upper part of the head black, the feathers edged with brownish-red; the cheeks greyish-brown; the throat, and fore part of the neck, greyish-white, a reddish-white band from the bill, over the eye, and down the side of the neck; the upper parts light brownish-red with black spots. The tips of the first row of small coverts, and of the secondary coverts, white; the quills and coverts blackish-brown, edged with light red; the tail brownish-black, the feathers edged with reddish-grey.
Female in summer. Plate CCCLXV. Fig. 3.
The female has the bill yellowish-brown, tipped with dusky, the feet and claws brownish-black, the upper part of the head, the hind neck, and the back, are reddish-grey, spotted with black; the wings and tail as in the male. A reddish-white band over the eye, and down the neck; the lore dusky; a black band from behind the eye; the cheeks light yellowish-brown; a black band from the lower mandible margining the throat, which is white; as are the lower parts generally; but the lower part of the neck is spotted with black, and the sides streaked with dusky.
Length to end of tail 5 9/12 inches; wing from flexure 3 8/12; tail 2.