LARK SPARROW. 
552. Chondestes grammacus. 6%, inches. 
These handsome sparrows are very abundant in the 
Mississippi Valley; their favorite resorts are fields, 
pastures and prairie lands, or along dusty roadsides. 
Their song is one of the sweetest of any of the Spar- 
rows, and is freely given throughout the summer. 
Song.—A hurried gush of silvery tremulous notes. 
Nest.—Sometimes in bushes but usually on the 
ground; of grasses arranged in a hollow to form a little 
cup, and usually concealed under a tuft of grass or 
bunch of clover. The birds usually run some distance 
from the nest before flying, so that they are quite hard 
to find. They lay three to five eggs, white, speckee 
and scrawled sparingly with blackish (.80 x .60.), 
wholly different from those of any other Sparrow. 
Range.—Mississippi Valley, breeding from Texas to 
Manitoba; winters in southern U. S. and Mexico. 
Sub-species.—552a. Western Lark Sparrow (striga- 
tus) is slightly paler ‘and less heavily marked; found 
from the Plains to the Pacifie. 
