Lincoln's Sparrow 389 



of abdomen ; ninth primary always longer than the fourth ; iris brown, 

 bill blackish, a pale spot at base of lower mandible, legs pale horn. 

 Length 540 ; wing 2-60 ; tail 2-25 ; culmen 45 ; tarsus -80. 



The female is a shade smaller, otherwise like the male ; young 

 birds are like the adults but more buffy and with less defined 

 markings. 



Distribution. — Breeding from arctic Korth America southwards along 

 the Rocky Mountains to Colorado, in the east to New York ; in winter 

 south to the southern states and Mexico as far as Panama. 



In Colorado Lincoln's Finch is a common smnmer resident, breeding 

 in the mountains from 9,000 feet up to timber line, but not, so far as 

 I am aware, much below that level or in the plains. It reaches El 

 Paso CO. in April (though Aiken has seen it early in March) and gradu- 

 ally moves into the mountains or further north in May. It comes 

 down again in October, leaving for the south soon after (latest date 

 in Aiken coll. for El Paso co., September 28th). 



Recorded breeding localities are : Valley of Cache La Poudre, 

 Larimer co. (Breninger), South Park, near Fairplay, 9,700 feet 

 (Allen & Tresz), Breckenridge (Carter), Lake Moraine on Pikes 

 Peak (Aiken), San Juan co. (Drew) ; on migration : Denver in May 

 (Henshaw), Fremont co. and Limon, May (Ailven), Pueblo (Beckham), 

 Fort Garland (Henshaw), Fort Lewis (Gilman). 



Habits. — Lincoln's Sparrow is a very retiring bird, 

 seldom leaving the thickets and undergrowth along the 

 valleys of rivers and streams, where it keeps near the 

 ground and obtains the seeds and insects which make up 

 its food ; it is very silent except in the breeding season, 

 when it has a low but prolonged song not in any way 

 very remarkable. It is stated by Cooke to breed in the 

 foothills from 7,000 feet and upwards to timber line ; 

 but I have not been able to find evidence of nesting 

 below about 9,500 feet. Dennis Gale took numerous 

 clutches of eggs at Ward (about 10,000 feet) in Boulder 

 CO. Full sets of fresh eggs were found by him from 

 June 10th to the end of the month, and he beUeved that 

 the later dates represented a second brood. The nests 

 were always placed on the ground, well sunk in, and 

 sheltered by a tuft of long grass, a bush or a tree ; the 

 spot was generally a dry one in a damp locality near a 



