Eighteenth Annual Meeting. 29 



closely resembled the gypsum that had crumbled from the rocks above, that the 

 casual observer would have passed it by unnoticed. I regret that I could not stay 

 for the eggs, but as the birds are quite common in that vicinity (southeastern Co- 

 manche county), I trust that before another season passes I shall be able to describe 

 the eggs. 



Passeeoulus sandwichensis alaudinus. B. 335. R. 1936. C. 229. Western 

 Savanna Sparrow. Migratory. October 14, 1885, I shot one of the birds, a male, 

 near ''Lake Inman," in McPherson county, and saw several others. I am inclined to 

 think they will prove to be quite a common bird in the western part of the State, 

 but they so closely resemble P. sandwichensis savanna that they have not been no- 

 ticed. The birds are, however, considerably smaller and paler in color — a bleached 

 race of the plains. 



ZoNOTBicHiA GAMBEn iNTEBMEDiA. B. 346. R. 207a. C. 277. Intermediate 

 White-crowned Sparrow. Migratory. Quite common in the middle and western 

 part of the State. Arrive the last of April to first of May. 



Passebina cibis. B. 384. R. 251. C. 292. Nonpareil Bunting. Summer resi- 

 dent in southwestern Kansas. May 7 to 18, 1885, I found the birds quite common 

 in the gypsum hills near the State line. Arrive the last of April to first of May. 

 Begin laying the last of May. Nest in the forks of bushes and low trees, composed 

 of grasses, sometimes of leaves at the base, and lined with the finer grasses and 

 hairs. Eggs four or five; .70x.53; cream white, thinly specked and spotted with 

 purple and reddish brown, thickest about large end; in form, rounded-oval. 



Sphybapicus vaeius nuchalis. B. 86. R. 369a. C. 447. Red-naped Wood- 

 pecker. Migratory in western Kansas. Rare. I killed a pair out of three young 

 birds found in the willows and cottonwoods thinly skirting the south fork of the 

 Smoky Hill river, at Wallace, October 12th and 14th, 1883. 



Geococcyx califobnianus. B. 68. R. 385. C. 427. Chapparral Cock. An oc- 

 casional visitant in western Kansas. Mr. Charles Dyer, Division Superintendent of 

 the A. T. &, S. F. R. R. at Las Vegas, New Mexico, writes me that in September, 1884, 

 he saw two of the birds near the railroad, and about fifteen miles east of the west 

 line of the State, and that he has seen them quite often in Colorado, near the State 

 line. The birds are known to breed as far east as Las Animas, and I feel confident 

 that they occasionally breed in the southwestern corner of the State, a natural habitat 

 of the birds; but unsettled and little known, especially as to its bird-life. 



Bubo vieginianus subaecticus. B. — . R. 405a. C. 463. Western Horned Owl. 

 October 29th, 1885, I shot a male in the timber skirting the south fork of Beaver 

 creek, in Rawlins county. 



BuTEO boeealis keideei. B. — . R. 436a. C. 519. Krider's Hawk. October 

 12th, 1883, I killed a female near Wallace, and think I saw, during the day, another; 

 but the birds at a distance so closely resemble the light phase of Archibuteo ferru- 

 gineus that I was not positive. They are birds of the plains, found from Texas to 

 Minnesota. 



HiMANTOPUs MExicANUs. B. 518. R. 567. C. 601. Black-necked Stilt. Mr. AV. 

 H. Gibson, formerly of Topeka, now of Las Vegas, New Mexico, (taxidermist,) in- 

 forms me that he saw three of the birds about the middle of June, 1881, on low, wet 

 ground near the Arkansas river, at Lakin. Without doubt the birds occasionally 

 breed in southwestern Kansas. 



PoEZANA NOVEBOBACENSis. B. 557. R. 575. C. 680. Little Yellow Rail. Summer 

 resident. Rare. Prof. L. L. Dyche, Curator of Birds and Mammals, State Univer- 

 sity, writes me that April 18th, 1885, he ca^^tured one of the birds (a female) on 



