LAEK FINCH. 21 



Dimensions. Lengtli, G.oO ; Stretch, 10.95 ; wing, 2.05 ; 

 tail, 2.85 ; bill, .55 ; tarsus, .72. 



CoMPAiiisoss. We have no other Sparrow in which the 

 head markings are so complicated as in this species, the promi- 

 nent chestnut buff and white markings will serve to distinguish 

 the species, and these combined with the white under parts 

 with the single spot on the breast, and the conspicuous white 

 tippings to the tail render the species even more noticable. 



Nests and Ejgs. Nests placed on the ground, cup-shaped 

 and composed of coarse grasses and lined vfith finer grasses. 

 Eggs, four to six in number, rather round in form, white in 

 color, marked with faint spots of lilac, lined and blotched with 

 umber and brown. These lines are the most prominent, are 

 irregular in width, and are arranged in a similar manner to 

 those on the eggs of Orioles and Blackbirds, to y>'hich tlic}^ 

 bear a much closer resemblance than they do to thoss of other 

 Sparrovy'S and Finchf^s. 



General Habits. The beautiful Lark Finch is, I am sorry 

 to have to record, merely an accidental visitor to New England, 

 for although apparently spreading slowly eastward, the species 

 is, as a rule, confined to the region west of Ohio. 



A specimen was taken at Gloucester in 1S45, one at New- 

 tonville, November 24, 1877, one at ^lagnolia, August 27, 

 1879, and one was seen at Framingham twice in April, 1883. 

 These are the only New England records. 



it appears to be abundant in the west, being a ground living 

 species and a frequenter of hedge rows and thickets. 



Song. Its lay consists of a succession of clear liquid notes 

 freely interspersed wi:h trills, the whole forming a chant which 

 is scarcely to be rivaled by any of our native songsters. 



