29a FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



white; back and rump streaked with black and ochraceous-buft'; lesser wing- 

 coverts black, broadly tipped with white ; tail fuscous, the two outer feathers 

 mostly white ; nape and under parts ochraceous-buif. Ad. 9 in summer. — ■ 

 Upper parts black, the feathers margined and tipped with pale cream-buff; 

 two outer tail-feathers mostly white; under parts pale cream-buff; breast and 

 sides sometimes lightly streaked with blackish. $ i)t winter. — Similar to ? 

 in summer, but with the lesser wing-coverts black, tipped with white. L., 

 6-60 ; W., 3-75 ; T., 2-50 ; B., -42. 



Range. — Interior of arctic America (chiefly Mackenzie River Valley) in 

 summer, breeding north to the arctic coast and upper Yukon Valley; south, 

 in winter, over the Great Plains and prairies to Illinois, Texas, etc. 



JSlesting., similar to that of the preceding. 



" Their habits are quite similar to those of P. lapponicus while 

 upon the ground. . . . When flushed they invariably uttered a sharp 

 clicking note, rapidly repeated several times. When driven from their 

 feeding place by my approach they would rise in a loose flock, and, 

 after wheeling about a few times, start off in a direct line, gradually 

 rising higher until they disappeared. After a short time their pecul- 

 iar note would be heard, and, darting down from a considerable height, 

 they would alight near the place from which they were driven " 

 (Nelson). 



The Chestnut-collared Longspur (538. Calcarius ornatus), a species of 

 the Great Plains, has been recorded from Massachusetts and Long Island. 



McCown's Longspur {539. Ehi/nchovhanes mccownii)., a species of the 

 Great Plains of the interior, is of casual occurrence in Illinois. 



540. Poocaetes gramineus {Gmel.). Vesper Sparrow; Bay- 

 winged Bunting ; Grass Finch. ^<i.— Upper parts brownish gray, streaked 

 with black and a little ochraceous-butf ; wings fuscous, greater and middle 



coverts tipped v/ith white, 

 lesser coverts bright rufous ; 

 tail fuscous, the outer feather 

 mostly white., the next one 

 with much less white ; under 

 parts white; the breast and 

 sides streaked with black and 

 ochraceous-buff. L.,6-12; W., 

 3-06 : T., 2-38 ; B., '41. 



Kemarks.—The white tail- 

 feathers and rufous lesser 

 wing-coverts will always distinguish this species from a'ny of our Sparrows. 



"Kange.—'^orth. America; breeds from southern Illinois and Virginia 

 northward to New Brunswick and Manitoba; winters on the Atlantic coast 

 from Virginia southward. 



Washington, P. K., very common in migrations, less so in summer and 



Fig. 82.— Tail-feathers of Vesper Sparrow. 



