358 Birds of Colorado 



very common. The males sit on the fence-posts or 

 tall weeds, and pour out their weak but rather sweet 

 little song while the females are busy on their nests. 

 These are placed on the ground, generally flush mth the 

 surface, and concealed in the long grass to a certain 

 extent. The eggs, four or five in number, are blueish 

 white, spotted and blotched — sometimes so heavily as 

 nearly to obliterate the ground-colour — mth varying 

 shades of brown. The date for fresh eggs is June or 

 the beginning of July. Rockwell found it nesting 

 commonly up to about 8,000 feet in Plateau Valley 

 in May, June and July ; it raises two broods, and there 

 the favourite nesting-site is in the alfalfa fields. 



Genus CENTRONYX. 



Small Sparrow-like birds generally resembling Passerculus, but 

 with the tail longer in proportion, about -75 the length of the wing ; 

 tail-feathers still narrower and distinctly pointed ; inner secondaries 

 elongated ; outer primary shorter than the fifth ; edge of the wing 

 white ; plumage streaky above and on the breast. 



This genus contains only the single species here described (see 

 key, p. 355). 



Baird's Sparrow. Centronyx hairdi. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 545 — Colorado Records — Aiken 73, p. 236 

 (C. ochrocephalus) ; Ridgway 73, p. 190 ; Baird, Brewer & Ridgway 

 74, p. 510 ; Henshaw 75, p. 253 ; 86, p. 333 ; Coues 78, p. 1 ; Drew 

 85, p. 16 ; MorrLson 89, p. 37 ; Cooke 97, p. 101. 



Description. — Male— Sides and top of the head ochraceous-yellow, 

 the crown and nape strongly streaked with black, tending to form two 

 lateral bands of black ; upper-parts, wings and tail dusky with brown, 

 light brown and often white edgings to the feathers ; edge of the wing 

 white ; outer pair of tail-feathers nearly white ; below, the throat 

 and chest with a pale wash of buffy, strongly streaked on the breast, 

 sides of the throat and flanks with black ; tail-feathers narrow, attenu- 

 ated and pointed ; iris brown, bill brown, legs pale homy. Length 

 50; wing 2-8 ; tail 2-15 ; culmen -40; tarsus -75. 



The above description is from a freshly moulted male, killed 

 October 19th. The sexes are alike, and the young essentially like 

 the adiilts. 



