Part 13

+Zonotrichia atricapilla+ (Gmelin): Golden-crowned sparrow.--Specimen, 1: Chandler Lake, 152 deg.45', 68 deg.12', 2900 ft., No. 30787, ad. male, August 19, 1951.

+Passerella iliaca zaboria+ Oberholser: Fox sparrow.--Specimen, 1: Driftwood, Utukok River, 161 deg.12'10", 68 deg.53'47", 1200 ft., No. 31350 (skin), male, August 29, 1952.

At 1/10 mile west and 9/10 mile east of Umiat (June 30, 1952) a nest the top of which was flush with the ground in a clearing among willows and alders, both bare of leaves, had four young approximately five days old. At Driftwood (Aug. 29, 1952) a male was caught in a mouse trap in the same area where a male was singing on the previous day. At the time the male was trapped a female sat on low vegetation only a few feet from the trap that held the dead bird.

+Calcarius lapponicus alascensis+ Ridgway: Lapland longspur.--Specimens, 75: NE Teshekpuk Lake, 153 deg.05'40", 70 deg.39'40", 8 ft., 22, Nos. 30827-30848 including 10 ad. males, 9 juv. males, 2 ad. females and 1 juv. female, July 29, 30, August 1, 3, 1951; Topagaruk River, 155 deg.48', 70 deg.34', 10 ft., 13, Nos. 30849-30861 including 9 ad. males and 4 ad. females, July 6, 8, 10, 1951; Kaolak River, 159 deg.47'40", 70 deg.11'15", 30 ft., 18, Nos. 30809-30826 including 2 ad. males, 10 juv. males, 3 ad. females and 3 juv. females, July 12, 14, 17, 1951; Kaolak, 160 deg.14'51", 69 deg.56'00", 178 ft., 13, Nos. 30796-30808 including 4 ad. males, 4 juv. males, 5 juv. females, July 20-27, 1951; Gavia Lake, 150 deg.00', 69 deg.35', 460 ft., 1, No. 31351, female, August 22, 1952; Umiat, 152 deg.09'30", 69 deg.22'08", 352 ft., 1, No. 31352, female, June 26, 1952; Chandler Lake, 152 deg.45', 68 deg.12', 2900 ft., 7, Nos. 30789-30795 including 1 ad. male, 1 juv. male, 1 ad. female, 4 juv. females, August 11, 12, 16, 18, 23, 1951.

The Lapland longspur and snow bunting were two of the early arrivals on the Arctic Slope of northern Alaska. Robert McKinley told us that this species of longspur arrived at Barrow Village shortly after April 20, 1952. On our arrival at Point Barrow on June 14, 1952, longspurs already were established on territories, and many of the birds had full complements of fresh eggs, although snow still covered the lakes and all but a few mounds and high points of the tundra.

On June 17, 1952, on the west side of Salt Water Lagoon, in an area of approximately six acres of raised polygons we located eight nests of the Lapland longspur. The first contained five fresh eggs, and its top was flush with the bare ground in an old excavation made by brown lemmings between three bunches of cotton-grass. Fecal pellets of the brown lemming were beneath the nest. The bulk of the nest was soiled grasses which insulated the bottom and sides of the nest from the damp soil. This supporting bulk was lined first with stems of new yellow grass, and then with white down feathers of the snowy owl. The female repeatedly repelled the male from the immediate vicinity of the nest. After observing the nest for a few minutes I moved it one foot. The female returned three times to the original site of the nest, ignoring the nest nearby. On the fourth trip, six minutes after the original nest was taken, she returned with feathers in her bill and started to line the original depression.

The second nest, superimposed on a nest of the previous year, held six fresh eggs and was under an overhanging piece of tundra sod. The cup was entirely beneath the sod but the outer rim of the nest was exposed. The nest faced northwest and was 100 centimeters above the general level of the tundra. Measurements, in millimeters, of this nest were: height, 52; width, 120; inside diameter of cup, 50; depth of cup, 30; width of layer of fine grasses and feathers of cup, 16. In cross section successive layers of nest material from outside in were as follows: mosses; old, dry, brownish-gray grasses; new, fine, loosely arranged, yellow grasses; down feathers of the snowy owl. The first two layers were on only one side and did not extend under the cup of the nest. The cup was lined with 12 down feathers of the snowy owl.

The third nest, containing six fresh eggs, was at the edge of a clump of cotton-grass and was exposed from directly above. The lining of the cup of white feathers and dry lichens was against the soil. Two layers of dry brownish-gray grasses and dry mosses were outward extensions from the cup.

The greater part of the third nest was stems of the grass Dupontia fischeri; newer yellow stems were near the cup and the older stems were toward the periphery. The measurements (in millimeters) of this nest were: height, 60; width, 210; width of cup, 50; depth of cup, 40.

A fourth nest of three fresh eggs held four eggs the following day. A fifth nest of six fresh eggs was only 10 centimeters from a well-used trail of a brown lemming and within 1/3 of a meter from the underground nest of the lemming. This longspur nest, among polygons of low hummocks, was bordered by mosses and grasses nine inches high. The sixth nest held five fresh eggs. Its top was flush with the ground and the nest was protected by an overhead canopy of Dupontia fischeri. A seventh nest, containing six fresh eggs, was among pieces of tundra displaced by a vehicle. Only the outer edge of this nest was exposed from above. The cup was lined with white feathers and with the hair of Rangifer. On June 20, an eighth nest of five fresh eggs was located near the above. The nest was 1/3 concealed under overhead protection.

At a point 1-2/5 miles south and 3/5 of a mile east of Barrow Village (June 20, 1952) we examined a ninth nest, containing six fresh eggs, among raised polygons. It was circular and the cup was centrally placed. The entire nest weighed 14 grams; the inner cup of fine stems of grass and white feathers weighed two grams. The nest was 118 mm wide; the cup was 56 mm wide and 38 mm deep. The outer structure of last year's nest, mosses and larger gray stems of grass, was 30 mm wide. Enroute to this locality from Barrow Village we saw only two longspurs (2:00 P.M.) and only three on the return trip.

At a place 9/10 mile east and 8/10 mile north of Barrow Village (June 23, 1952) a tenth nest, containing five fresh eggs, was noted in a lemming runway that had been enlarged from a soil fracture. The top of the nest was flush with the surface of the ground and there was no overhead protection. This nest had the least nesting material of any nest of this species examined to date; there was no nesting material of any kind on the sides adjoining the walls of the fracture. At Umiat (June 26, 1952) an eleventh nest, containing six eggs, was so placed that its top was flush with the surface of a raised polygon, and closely resembled those at Point Barrow except that the cup was lined with brown and white feathers of the willow ptarmigan. Additional data are as follows: weight of entire nest, 20 grams; weight of inner cup, 7 grams; diameter of cup, 65 mm; depth of cup, 30 mm; width of entire nest, 100 mm. As was usual with other nests of this species, the outer edge of one side was covered with moss.

In the period July 13-August 15, from several localities on the Arctic Slope, Lapland longspurs were caught in traps (20 feet apart) set in linear lines among sedges. The average distance between traps catching longspurs was 1400 feet. Other Lapland longspurs observed in the same period at these same localities averaged one per 400 feet of walking on my part. The greatest number of longspurs trapped was at Kaolak on July 24, 1951; 100 traps yielded 6 longspurs. The greatest number observed--one per 100 feet--was at Topagaruk on July 5, 1951. Although the longspur on the Arctic Slope is the most common bird, it is absent from some areas there. On each of two trips (July 29-30) across one mile of upland plateau between Barrier Lake and Teshekpuk Lake, we did not see longspurs. This plateau is a travel lane maintained by caribou.

Juveniles were first trapped on July 5, 1951, at Topagaruk; others were observed on this date but they could not fly. The first juvenile noted in flight was on July 9, also at Topagaruk. The increase of juveniles there caused the longspur to be the most common bird in the field (50 per cent in abundance). On July 15 at Kaolak River, most of the longspurs noted were juveniles, but they were able to fly well. The adult males and females, which were molting at this time, were more secretive in their movements than longspurs at Topagaruk on July 5. Adult males were molting as early as July 2 at Kaolak. On July 25 at Kaolak longspurs were mainly in groups of five or six; others were in groups of 18 or more. As late as August 21 (Gavia Lake) longspurs were still in family groups or occurred as singles.

At Chandler Lake, the decrease in numbers of Lapland longspurs was synchronized with autumnal changes in weather. On August 15, 1951, the longspurs were numerous; 40 or 50 individuals were seen in the course of an hour's walk. On August 19 there was a noticeable decrease in numbers of individuals and by August 22, only three were seen. In this period of decreasing numbers, they were more numerous and active in the morning than in the evening or in inclement weather. The behavior pattern of leaving the ground with an audible commotion and flapping of wings on the vegetation also was characteristic of this period of decreasing numbers of the longspur population. At 1/2 mile south of the Arctic Research Laboratory (Sept. 7, 1952) only a single longspur was noted.

The short-eared owl and especially the pigeon hawk consistently preyed on longspurs.

Only one longspur (an adult female No. 30854) in 75 specimens examined had the bone of the skull damaged by parasites.

Adult males are larger than adult females (July). In the breeding season adult females average 3 grams lighter than males. In the latter part of summer, however, females "catch up" in weight with the males. As early as the middle of July, juveniles are nearly as large as adults in cranial measurements. The increase in weight in juveniles was from 21.5(18-25) in ten juvenal males shot in the period July 12-16, at Kaolak River to 25.2(22-27) grams in nine juvenal males shot in the period July 29-August 2 at Teshekpuk Lake.

The testes of adults gradually decrease in size from July to August; their average length was 7.7(4.0-12.0) mm in nine adult males shot in the period July 6-10 at Topagaruk but only 2.2(1.5-3.0) in six adult males shot in the period July 12-26, at Kaolak and Kaolak River. By August 1, at Teshekpuk Lake the testes of nine adult males averaged 1.4(1.0-1.5) in total length, which is only slightly larger than the average size of the testes 1.2(1.0-2.0) of nine juveniles shot in the period July 29-Aug. 2, at Teshekpuk Lake.

+Calcarius pictus+ (Swainson): Smith's longspur.--Specimens, 2: Wahoo Lake, 146 deg.58', 69 deg.08', 2350 ft., No. 31353, ad. male, July 9 and No. 31354, ad. female, July 7, 1952.

On July 7, 1952, at Wahoo Lake, a single longspur was trapped in one of 200 traps set for small mammals. On July 9, a line of 120 traps set in a community of cotton-grass, other sedges, grasses and dwarf willow also yielded one longspur--an adult male 172 mm long that weighed 28 grams. Smith's longspurs were uncommon at Wahoo Lake from July 3 to July 11, and when seen were associated with open tundra supporting cotton-grass, generally on flat areas adjacent to the lake. Singing from the air was heard on several occasions. On the alluvial outwash, between Lake Peters and Lake Schrader, two Smith's longspurs were recorded on July 24, 1952, and flocks of 11-16-18-20 were seen there in the damp meadows on August 13, 1952. Those seen on the latter date had moved into the area since July 23, when we first arrived.

+Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis+ (Linnaeus): Snow bunting.--Specimens, 6: Topagaruk, 155 deg.48', 70 deg.34', 10 ft., 5, Nos. 30862-30866 including 4 ad. males and 1 ad. female, July 6, 7, 9, 10, 1951; Mount Mary, S end Lake Peters, 145 deg.10'02", 69 deg.20'30", 2920 ft., 1, No. 31355, August 1, 1952.

Robert McKinley reported to us that snow buntings were at Barrow Village at least as early as April 20, 1952, when snow covered most of the ground. On June 14, 1952, at Birnirk mounds when snow still covered most of the ground, snow buntings were already established on territories.

At Point Barrow (June 21, 1952), the most northerly extension of land on the Arctic Slope of northern Alaska, five pairs of snow bunting were nesting in abandoned subterranean Eskimo houses. The houses were in different stages of deterioration from one almost usable by man to one that was no more than a flattened mound. Sides of some houses were exposed by the sea cliff that was advancing inland. Logs and skulls of baleen whales had been set on end for walls, and mandibles and ribs of whales had been used as rafters. This framework had been covered with tundra sod. Most of the nests were between the roof support and the upper ends of the whale skulls. Each nest contained five fresh eggs and was completely protected from rain, sun and wind. One nest weighed 24 grams and measured (in millimeters) 155 wide, 68 high, 38 in depth of cup, 70 in width of cup, and was in the brain cavity of the cranium. Another nest on top of a skull in the interior room, weighed 24 grams. This nest was built upon material of a nest of the previous year. The old material weighed four grams and the new inner mass weighed 20 grams. The new nest consisted of successive layers of new yellow grass stems and feathers. The lining of the cup had feathers in the 20 mm-thick layer of fine hairlike plant fibers. The feathers were from birds larger than the bunting. The nest was well insulated in comparison with those of the Lapland longspur, but like most of those had the cup offset toward the inner side of the nest, and more nest material of large size outward toward the entrance, than elsewhere. In the same area, especially in grass on and around low mounds, there were approximately 50 brown lemmings (18 lemming nests examined), many of which used the mounds inhabited by the bunting. On August 26, in the same area at Point Barrow, we noted 28 birds feeding and resting but on September 11 found none there.

A nest of five young (July 4, 1951) at a place 1/5 mile south of the Arctic Research Laboratory was under an overhanging ledge of an unused burrow of a brown lemming. The burrow had been excavated by lemmings on a mound of earth thrown up by a bulldozer. An adult female snow bunting was carrying insects to the nest and fecal pellets away from it. Another nest of five young (July 4) was in a fifty gallon oil drum. An adult female gained entrance to the nest through a small hole on the side of the container, the only hole present. Other nests on this date were examined that contained both eggs and young, or eggs, or young. Most of these nests were in holes in the ground or under the protection of overhanging ledges of earth. On July 4, snow buntings were in their black and white plumage, but on July 27, were in brown-white plumage.

At Topagaruk (July 5, 1951) a nest containing young birds fully feathered was noted five feet above the ground in a horizontal pipe six inches in diameter. One dead bird, two to three days old, was in the water and mud at the base of the stack of pipes. Other young birds from other family groups had short tails and were capable of feeble flight. Adults were seen only in the immediate vicinity of the camp.

The average weight of four adult males shot in the period July 6-10, 1951, was 36 grams. The average length of their testes was 9.2(7.0-11.0) mm.

At Kaolak (July 21-27, 1951) we did not see the snow bunting. The camp, however, was built the previous winter and was inhabited (July 10) for the first time in summer. The birds were at Topagaruk, our collecting station next nearest to the eastward in the same general type of environment and we assumed that eventually the birds would become established at Kaolak.