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.