134 COTUKNICULUS LECONTEI, LECONTE's SPARROW. 



bon speaks of its great abundance in several of the Atlantic States, but 

 no later observers have found it to be so. With rae, it has been one of 

 the rarest of our sparrows. I have seen it on but one or two occasions, 

 about Washington, D. C. It has been found breeding in Massachu- 

 setts. The eggs are not distinguishable from those of C. passer imis. 



COTUKNICULUS LECONTEI, (Aud.) Bp. 

 Lecoiite's Sparrow. 



Emleriza leconiii, Aud., B. Am. vii, 1843, 338, pi. 488.— Maxim., J. f. O. vi, 18.58, 340.— 



Ammodromiis lecontil, Gray, G. of 13. ii, 374. 



Cotnrn'mdus Jecontii, Bp. Consp. Av. i, 1850, 481. — Bo.. B. N. A. 1858, 452. — CouES, Key, 



1872, 137.— CoUES, Am. Nat. vii, 1873, 748 (biograpliy, &c.).— B. B. & R., N. 



A. B. i, 1874, 552, pi. 25, f. 6. 



Hab. — Central Plaias, from Northern Dakota to Texas. 



This long-lost species, of which I, for one, never expected to see an 

 example, believing it to have been based upon some particular condi- 

 tion of G. passerinus or G, henslovii, has at length been re-discovered. 

 While at the Smithsonian, in 1872, I was shown a specimen. No. 50222, 

 from Texas, which had been identified by Mr. Ridgway with Emheriza 

 lecontii of Audubon. On careful examination, I could not refer it to 

 any species known to me, while at the same time I found that it agreed 

 in all essential particulars with Audubon's description and plate ; so 

 that I did not hesitate to endorse Mr. Ridgway's view. As stated in 

 the Key, it resembles G. lienslovii ; the bill is much smaller; the fore 

 and under parts and sides of the head are buff, with black touches on 

 the sides ; there is no yellow loral stripe ; the median stripe on the 

 crown is buff, passing into white posteriorly. The length of the speci- 

 men is 4:^ inches ; the wing. 2^; tail, 1^. This is a young bird. 



Audubon says that the species is common on the Upper Missouri, 

 where, let us hope, other specimens will be found. 



December, 1873. — Since the foregoing was penned, I have been so for- 

 tunate as to find the bird myself, and secure several examples. These 

 represent the old and young of both sexes, and are particularly inter- 

 esting, since they show that we have hitherto misai^prehended the char- 

 acters of the species. For Audubon's account (his type is lost), with 

 which the Texas specimen agrees, indicates only the extensively bufty, 

 diffusely marked, soft plumage of the young, for which the adult differs 

 materially, necessitating a revision of the diagnosis of the species. In 

 form the species differs notably from its congeners in the shape and 

 relatively gTcater length of the tail, which is rather over two inches 

 long, decidedly exceeding the wings, reaching beyond the outstretched 

 feet, and remarkably graduated, the lateral feathers being from one- 

 third to one-half an inch shorter than the central. The tail-feathers are 

 all extremely narrow and acuminate, even more so than in the Sharp- 

 tailed Fnch, Ammodromus candacutus. In fact the bird is quite as much 

 an Ammodronut.s as a Goturniculus, furnishing an excellent connecting 

 link for those who are disposed to unite these so-called genera. The 

 W'iugs are very short aud much rounded; when closed, the pri diaries 

 hardly exceed the longest secondary by one-fourth of an inch, although 

 the secondaries are not at all elongated. The bill is not so turgid as in 

 G. passerinus ; the younger birds have it smaller than it is in that spe- 

 cies, as stated in the Key, but in the adults the difference is less nota- 

 ble. Specimens measure from 4.90 to 5.10 in length, by 0.90 to 7.10 in 

 extent; the wing is 1.90 to 2.00; the tail, 2.00 to 2.25. The general 



