FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 329 



tipped with black — outer feather almost entirely white. Adult male in 

 sumvier : crown black in sharp contrast to white superciliary ; shoulder patch 

 reddish brown ; back brownish gray, streaked with black ; sides of head and 

 throat whitish, with black streak from bill alongside of throat ; chest with 

 black crescentic liatch ; rest of under parts white, moi'e or less mixed with 

 black, especially on sides. Adult male in winter: upper parts uniform brown- 

 ish buff, streaked with blackish brown ; black of chest largely hidden by 

 huffy tips to feathei-s. Adult female : like winter male, but without black 

 chest patch or rufous shoulder patch, brownish above and bufty below ; in 

 summer grayer above and whiter below. Young : upper parts dusky, the 

 feathers broadly bordered with pale buff ; under parts white, distinctly 

 washed with buff across chest, chest sometimes indistinctly streaked. Male : 

 length (skins) .J.-20-5.T1, wing- 8.50-8.()y, tail 1.90-2.20, bill .44-.:>2. Fe- 

 male: length (skins) .■■).02-5.41, wing 3.1.')-o.42, tail 1.80-1. 'JS. bill .42-47. 



Distribution. — Breeds on the interior plains from the Saskatchewan 

 south to eastern Nebraska j winters south through Texas and Arizona to 

 northern Mexico. 



Nest. — On g^round in open places, composed largely of dried grasses, 

 lined usually^ with hair and feathers. Eggs : 3 to (5, similar to those of 

 the chestnut-collared longspur, but usually with ground color more olive. 



Food. — Largely weed seed. 



The habits of R1iyndwj)hanes are very similar to those of the other 

 longspurs. When disturbed at a meal they circle in undulating 

 flight uttering, Colonel Goss says, ' a chip note at each stroke of the 

 wing.' In the breeding season they have a flight song like that of 

 the Lapland longspur, hovering with wings pointed almost straight 

 upwards. 



GENUS POCECETES. 



General Characters. — Bill small, conical ; wing long and pointed ; tail 

 emarginate ; tarsus longer than middle toe with claw. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Larger, coloration grayer above. Plains to Pacific . COnfinis, p. .329. 

 r. Smaller, coloration browner above. In California and Oregon. 



affinis, p. 330. 



540a. Pooecetes gramineus confinis Baird. Western Ves- 



I'EK SpAKKOW. 



Upper parts brownish gray narrowly streaked with tlusky ; bend of wing 



reddish brown; outer t(nl feathers parti fi white; under parts 



dull white, more or less tinged w ith pale huffy ; streaked 



along sides of throat and across chest. Male: length 



J^'iK- ■!>'••• (skins) r,.,-)0-0.25. wing 3.12-3.41, tail 2.40-2.70, bill .43- 



.4(5. Female : length (skins) 5.21-().0O, wing 3.00-3.30, tiiil 2.27-2.08, bill 



.41 -.40. 



Hemarlcs. — The western vesper sparrow may be distinguished from the 

 ejustern ])y its grayer color, narrower streaks, and usually more slender bill 

 and longer wing and tail. 



Distribution. — Upp«'r Sonoran and Transition ztmes from the Plains to 

 the Pacific, and from British Cohinibia, Assiniboia, and .Manitoba south to 

 L(>w»*r California and .southern Mexico. Breeds from northern New Mexico 

 and Arizona northward. 



