FRINGILLIDa: — THE FINCHES, 257 



and heard singing at Ball's Cross Eoads, in Virgiiaia, about two 

 miles nearer the District than the other locality. Besides the char- 

 acteristic note of see-wick, they have quite a song, which may faii'ly 

 be represented by the syllables si$-r-r-rit-srit-srlt, with the accent on 

 the first and last parts. This song is ol'ten uttered wliile the bhd 

 takes a short liight upward; it then drops down again into the 

 tangled weeds and grasses, where it is almost impossible to follow 

 it." 



Ammodramus lecontei (Aud.) 



LECONTE'S SPAKKOW. 



Popular synonyms. Leeonte's Bunting; Yellow Sparrow (Manitoba). 



Emheriza leconteii AuD. B. Am. viii, 1843,338. pi. 48S. 

 Coturnicxilus lecontii Bp. 1850.— Baied, B. N. Am. 1858 481; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 310.— 

 CouES, Key, 1872, 137; Cheek List, 1873, No. 164; 2d ed. 1882, No. 237.— B. N. W. 1874. 

 135.— B. B. & R. Hist. N. Am. B. i, 1874, 552. pi. 25, flg. 6.— BiDGW. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, 

 No. 200. 



Hab. Eastern portion of the Great Plains ot the United States, from Manitoba (in sum- 

 mer) to central Texas (in winter). In winter migrating through the prairie districts of 

 tlie Mississippi Valley to South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida. 



Sp. Chak. Bill much more slender than C. henslowi. First auill longest, the rest 

 diminished rapidly. Tail emarginate and rounded, with the feathers acute. Upper parts 

 light yellowish red, streaked with brownish black; the margins ot the leathers and scapu- 

 lars pale yellowish white. Tail-leathers dusky, margined with light yellowish. Lower 

 parts, with the cheeks and a broad band over the eyes, fine buff. Medial line yellowish 

 anteriorly, nearly white behind. The buff extending to the lemorals and along the sides, 

 streaked with brownish black. Throat, neck, and upper parts of the breast, without any 

 streaks, and plain buff. 



Adult male (No. ()5,815,U. S. Nat. Mus.). Ground-color of the head white, tinged with 

 buff on the maxillie.and with ash on the auriculars; crown with two broad black stripes, 

 separated by a narroAV medial one of whitish; nuchal feathers bright rufous, edged with 

 ashy white, and shafted witli black; dorsal feathers black, broadly edged exteriorly with 

 white, and interiorly narrowly skirted with rufous. Beneath entirely white, tinged on the 

 throat with buff, and streaked on the sides— from the breast to the flanks— with black. 

 Length, .5.00; extent, 7.10; wing,2.10; tail, 2.00; culmen, .42; tarsus, .68. (August 19; plumage 

 much worn and faded.) 



Adult female (No. 65,814, U. S. Nat. Mus.). Resembling the male, but, being in less 

 abraded plumage, the colors more pronounced. The band is deep buff (just as in Ammo- 

 dramus caudacutus) . the auriculars and lores distinctly grayish white, and the medial 

 stripe of the crown ashy white, except the anterior third, which is buff. On the lower 

 parts, the whole lower side of the head, and the entire breast, sides, flanks, and tibiie, are 

 deep buff, the sides sharply streaked wi h black. The abdomen, anal region and orissum 

 are pure white, in marked contrast. Length, 5.00; extent, 7.00; wing, 2.00; tail, 2.10; culmen, 

 .45; tarsus, .70. 



Yotmg. Ground-color above dull buff, below white; the pattern of the old birds seen 

 in the markings, which, however, are pure black, all reddish and brown tints being absent 

 —except on the wings and tail, which are nearly as in the adult. 



In its unspotted breast, the rufous feathers of the hind-neck, the 



absence of submalar stripes, and apparently in the markings of the 



wings, it is most hke C. passer inm. Although the middle tail-feathers 

 -17 



