56 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 103 



BIRDS OBSERVED NEAR MINCO, CENTRAL 

 OKLAHOMA. 



BY ALEXANDER WETMORE. 

 (Continued from March, 1918, Wilson Bulletin.) 



40. Coturniculus savannarum hinwcuUitus (Swainson). — Western 



Grasshopper Sparrow. 



Common; breeding. Western Grasshopper Sparrows were char- 

 acteristic birds of the high, rolling prairie where it was not under 

 cultivation. On May 25 the condition of the sexual organs in birds 

 collected indicated that the breeding season had just begun. Males 

 sang from the weed-stems, the tops of the buffalo pea, or fence posts. 

 The usual song may be represented by the syllables Ka-tsick Ka- 

 tsee-e-e-e. Another song was a succession of squeaky notes given 

 rapidly. Female birds were little in evidence and were, flushed 

 with difficulty from their shelters in the grass. 



Three females collected average smaller than the measurements 

 given for this form by Mr. Ridgway.^ The males have shorter 

 tails than is usual. In coloration the birds collected are typical 

 C. s. Mmamlatus. Compared with a series of C. s. australis they 

 have less black and more rusty brown in the vipper parts. The bill 

 also is more slender than in eastern Grasshopper Sparrows taken 

 in Virginia. Measurements in millimeters of the specimens col- 

 lected are as follows: 



No. 1140 (Coll. A. W.) Minco, Okla., May 25, 1905, $ ad. 

 No. 1142 (Coll. A. W.) Minco, Okla, May 25, 1905, $' ad. 

 No. 1198 (Coll. A. W.) Minco, Okla., May 31, 1905, $ ad. 



Average of three adult females 60.9 42.9 



No. 1143 (Coll. A. W.) Minco, Okla., May 25, 1905, J' ad.. 63.0 44.6 

 No. 1152 (Coll. A. W.) Minco, Okla., May 26, 1905, J" ad.. 63.5 45.0 

 No. 1196 (Coll. A. W.) Minco, Okla., May 31, 1905, ^ ad.. 65.0 44.5 



Average of three adult males 63.8 44.7 



41. Chondestes grammacus strigatus Swainson. — Western Lark 



Sparrow. 



Common; breeding. These birds were scattered over the rolling 



prairie country and seemed at this time all to be nesting. An 



adult male, collected May 23, has the plumage of the upper parts 



somewhat worn. It differs from C. g. grammacus in all of the char- 



^ Birds of North and Middle America, I, 1901, p. 210. 



