290 FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



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

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

 mostly white ; nape and under parts ochraceous-butf. 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. $ in winter. — Similar to ? 

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

 G-GO ; W., 3-75 ; T., 2-50 ; B., -42. 



Range. — Interior of arctic America (chiefly Mackenzie Eiver 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. 



JS'esting.^ 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 " 

 (Xelson). 



The Chestnut-collared Loxgspur {538. Calcarius ornatus), a species of 

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



McCown's Longspur {539. JUiyndiovhanes m,ccownii), a species of the 

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



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

 winged Bunting ; Grass Finch. Ad. — Upper parts brownish gray, streaked 

 with black and a little ochraceous-bufl": Avings fuscous, greater and middle 



coverts tipped with white, 

 lesser coverts bright rufous ; 

 tail fuscous, the outer feather 

 mostly ichite., the next one 

 with much less white ; tinder 

 parts white ; the breast and 

 sides streaked with black and 

 ochraceous-bufl. L.,6"12; "\V., 

 3-OG : T., 2-38 ; B., -41. 



Fig. 82.-Tail-featbers of Vesper Sparrow. A'marlv^.-The white tail- 



feathers and rufous lesser 

 wing-coverts will always distinguish this species from any of our Sparrows. 



Kange.—^ox'dx America; breeds from southern Illinois and Virginia 

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

 from Virginia southward. 



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



