362 Birds of Colorado 



Description. — Adult ^Male — Sides of the crown and ear-coverts rich 

 chestnut, becoming black anteriorly ; general colour above, including 

 the median portion of the crown, pale brown ; the back streaked with 

 black ; the wings dusky, edged with paler or whitish ; the central tail- 

 feathers dusky brown, the others black with increasing amounts of 

 white at their tips from within outwards ; the outer pair wholly 

 white on the outer web, half white on the inner ; a white spot below 

 the eye, and a smaller one behind the ear-coverts ; a line across the 

 lores in front of the chestnut ear-coverts and along the malar region 

 black ; below dirty-white with a semi-concealed black patch in the 

 middle of the breast ; iris, biU and legs brown. Length 6-25 ; wing 

 3-5 ; tail 2-75 ; culmen -45 ; tarsus -74. 



The female is smaller — wing 3-35 — otherwise like the male. 



Distribution. — Western North America from Manitoba westwards 

 and southwards, south in winter to southern and Lower California, 

 Mexico and Guatemala. 



The Western Lark-Sparrow is a common summer resident throughout 

 the whole of Colorado, though rarer in the west and south-west districts ; 

 it breeds abundantly in the plains and less commonly in the mountain 

 parks and up to about 10,000 feet. The highest records I have come 

 across are Pando, Eagle co., 9,200 feet (Warren 08), and Breckenridge, 

 9,700 feet (Carter apud Cooke). It reaches Colorado in spring, 

 about the end of April — Pueblo, April 23rd (Lowe), Salida, May 

 14th (Frey), Baca co., April 26th (Warren, 06), Limon, April 30th 

 (Aiken coll.). Mesa co., April 1st to September 22nd, extreme 

 dates (Rockwell). 



Habits. — One of the most characteristic birds of the 

 prairies, this species seems equally at home on the high 

 dry plains, in the cultivated fields, and in open groves 

 along the rivers. It has a clear, rich and varied song, 

 probably equal to that of any of the rest of the family. 

 The nest is usually placed on the ground in the open, 

 but often sheltered by a tuft of grass. It is made of grass 

 and generally lined with cow or horse hair. Fresh eggs 

 are to be found about the end of May or the first week 

 in June. Warren (06) found fresh eggs near Spring- 

 field on May 28th, Dennis Gale at Gold Hill on June 

 3rd. They are usually three in number, and are white 

 with a blueish tinge marked with a few spots and blotches 



