'iJ46 Bines OF n-LiNois. 



"Sr. ('HAK. Mnir ill fiiriiiQ. Top of lii-inl, a l>ri<ii)l ntri|>f carli sldi- tli'> llirnat frnm 

 lower nianilllil<\ iind a liriiad orescent on JuBUliim. Mack: rIJp of head ini'liidlne lores 

 iind liaiiil hImivi- the eye. throat, and under |Mirt». ashy while; ear-ooverts bordered above 

 and behind by blaekish, runnhiK out at the maxillary stripe. liroast just behind the 

 black I'reseent and sides, showinK dark bases of feathers. Upper parts ashy, tinned with 

 yellowish on the mandible, and streaked with dusky: least so on nape and rump. Lesser 

 wlnt'-eoverts ashy; median, ehestnut-brown, with bla<-klsh bases sometimes evhient; 

 till' nullls all bordered broailly externally with wliltlsh.beeomlne more iwhy on second- 

 aries. Tail-feathers white except at the concealed bases and the ends, which have a 

 transverse (not oblhiue) tip of blackish; the outermost white to the end; the two central 

 like the back. liill dark plumbeous; lens blackish. In winter, the mark Iurb more or 

 less obscured; tin' bill and lees more yellowish. 



"/■Vmo/p lacks the black markluKS. which, however, are Indicated obsoleloly as In 

 otiwr Plrclioiiliaiifg: there Is no trace of chestnut on the wlntcs, nor the streaks on the 

 breast. Leneth, 5.511; wInK. H-fiO; tail, 2.50; bill, AC 



"This species varies considerably iu markiiit,'s, but i.s readily rec- 

 ognized among other Plectrophanes in all stages by short liind toe, 

 very stout bill, and the transverse dark bar at the end of all tail- 

 feathers except the inner and outer. {Hist. N. Am. B.) 



McCo\\ii's Longspur is one of several very peculiar bu'ds which 

 together characterize the avi-fauna of the Great Plains of Noi-th 

 America, its more prominent associates in this distinction being the 

 Lark Bunting [CdUiinospiza 7nd(i>iorori/s), Chestnut-collared Longspur 

 (Calcarius ornatus), Baii'd's Bunting {Centronix bairdii), Clay-colored 

 Sparro\v {Sphella paUida), Leconte's Sparrow {Coturuicnlu/s Irmiitei), 

 and Harris's Sparrow (Zonotrichia (jucrida). These, together with the 

 subject of the present ai'ticle, and a few species not named, char- 

 acterize a Campestrian Province, which, so far as its avian fauna is 

 concerned, is even more distinct from the Middle Province than is 

 the Pacific Province." 



McCown's Longspur is an abundant species during summer on the 

 great plains of Dakota, Montana, and Wj'ominp, to the northward 

 and southward of which its breeding range extends for an undeter- 

 mined 'distance. In winter it migrates south to the prairies and 

 plains of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, as well as to the table- 

 lands of Mexico. Li Illmois it is, so far as Icnowu, merely a strag- 

 gler during its migrations, or in winter, three specimens having been 

 taken in January, 1877, at Champaign, Champaign county, as an, 

 nounced by Mr. H. K. Coale in the "Nuttall Bulletin" for April, 

 1877, p. 52. 



♦Writers on the zoo-Keographicnl divisions of North America have, almost all divided 

 the coutinout Into three 'Trovinces;" viz., an Eastern, n Middle, and a Pacifle. These 

 divisions seem to me untenable, however, and I would allow only two primary lonKltudi- 

 nal illvisions; an Eastern and a Western, the latter with three subdivisions, whiidi may 

 be termed, respectively, tile Piiclllc, the Uocky Mountain (or Middle), ami the Campes- 

 trian districts. 



