136 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 14 



days later. Another nest with two eggs was found July 28, 1911, in which one 

 egg hatched July 30 and the young left by August 12 (Bailey, ^IS). 1 found a 

 nest with four eggs at Yellow Bay, Flathead Lake, July 22, 1915. 



257. Calamospiza melanocorys Stejiu»ger 



Lark Buntinc; 



A suinnier resident pi'obably throughout the state, in valleys and on the 

 |)rairies, lireeding in open grass areas. In the eastern ])art of the state (jiiite 

 common, but rare or irregular westward, and only recorded from two localities 

 west of tlie divide. All observers in extreme eastern Montana record this spe- 

 cies. AVestward, records are not so common, though the Lark Bunting appar- 

 ently breeds regularly in mountain valleys east of the divide in small numbers, 

 such as at Three Forks (Saunders, 1911a, p. 44), and in Broadwater County 

 (Saunders, 1912f, p. 218). The records west of the divide are as follows: Deer 

 Lodge Valley, two seen I\ray 14, 1911 (Saunders, 1912a, p. 29) ; Bitterroot Val- 

 ley, common in August, 1908, and a few seen in the spring of 1909 (Bailey, MS). 



This species evidently fluctuates greatly in abundance from year to yea?-. 

 There is considerable evidence^ to show that it was very abundant in uiountain 

 valleys, east of the divide, at least, in 1907. L was first informed of this, in re- 

 gard to the Gallatin Valley, by Prof. R. A. Cooley of the Montana Agriculturtd 

 College. Later I heard more of this from various sources, people not aciuainted 

 with birds describing the species to me, telling how common it was, and how 

 easilj' nests could be found. This referred to the Jefferson Valley and to the 

 regions about Townsend, Helena, Choteau and Great Falls. Evidence of unusual 

 abundance in Fergus (*ounty also shows in the writings of INTr. Silloway, who 

 considered the species not very common in 1902 (190.8a, p. 58), but mentions 

 the commonness of its nests in 1907 (1909, p. 87). 



Migrations take place in May and probably in August. Eight years at 

 Terry give May 15 for the average arrival, and May 10, 1898. the earliest (Cooke, 

 1914b, p. 267). Other dates of arrival are as follows: Gallatin Valley, ^lay 24. 

 1909; Deer Lodge Valley, May 14, 1911; Dutton, :\Iay 1!), 1915, and :\ray 29, 

 1916 (DuBois, MS). There are no definite dates for fall migration. (Occur- 

 rences in August are mentioned by several writers, but not later than that by 

 any. 



Nests have been found frequently, and tlinc are probably two broods in a 

 season. The earliest nest is one which contained Hwee eggs Alay 25 and seven on 

 May 29, the young being out by .June 1(» (Cameron, 1908a. p. 48). The majority 

 of nests are found in June or early .July. Tlie latest was one containing eggs at 

 Two Forks of the I\Iilk River, July 21, 1874 (Cou(>s, 1874b, p. 599). The species 

 is frequently imposed u])()n by the ( 'ow bird. Out of eighteen nests found on the 

 Yellowstone and Musselshell, five contained ('owhii'd's eggs (Allen. 1874. p. '^>^). 



258. Piranga ludoviciana ( Wilson) 



Western Tanager 

 A common suniuu i' rt'sident of the western half of the slate, eastward to the 



