FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 329 



tipped with black outer feather almost entirely white. Adult male in 

 summer : crown black in sharp contrast to white superciliary ; shoulder patch 

 reddish brown; back brownish gray, streaked with black; sides of head and 

 throat whitish, with black streak from bill alongside of throat ; chest with 

 black crescentic patch ; rest of under parts white, more or less mixed with 

 black, especially on sides. Adult male in winter: upper parts uniform brown- 

 ish buff, streaked with blackish brown ; black of chest largely hidden by 

 buffy tips to feathers. Adult female : like winter male, but without black 

 chest patch or rufous shoulder patch, brownish above and buffy below ; in 

 summer grayer above and whiter below. Young : upper parts dusky, the 

 feathers broadly bordered with pale buff ; under parts white, distinctly 

 washed with buff across chest, chest sometimes indistinctly streaked. Male : 

 length (skins) 5.26-5.71, wing 3.50-3.69, tail 1.90-2.20, bill .44-.S2. Fe- 

 male: length (skins) 5.02-5.41, wing 3.15-3.42, tail 1.80-1.98, bill .42-.4T. 



Distribution. Breeds on the interior plains from the Saskatchewan 

 south to eastern Nebraska j winters south through Texas and Arizona to 

 northern Mexico. 



Nest. On ground in open places, composed largely of dried grasses, 

 lined usually with hair and feathers. Eggs : 3 to 6, similar to those of 

 the chestnut-collared longspur, but usually with ground color more olive. 



Food. Largely weed seed. 



The habits of Rhynchophanes are very similar to those of the other 

 longspurs. When disturbed at a meal they circle in undulating 

 flight uttering, Colonel Goss says, ' a chip note at each stroke of the 

 wing.' In the breeding season they have a flight song like that of 

 the Lapland longspur, hovering with wings pointed almost straight 

 upwards. 



GENUS POQECETES. 



General Characters. Bill small, conical ; wing long and pointed ; tail 

 emarginate ; tarsus longer than middle toe with claw. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Larger, coloration grayer above. Plains to Pacific . confinis, p. 329. 

 1'. Smaller, coloration browner above. In California and Oregon. 



affinis, p. 330. 



540a. PooBcetes gramineus confinis Baird. WESTERN VES- 

 PER SPARROW. 



Upper parts brownish gray narrowly streaked with dusky ; bend of wing 

 reddish brown ; outer tail feathers partly white ; under parts 

 dull white, more or less tinged with pale buffy ; streaked 

 along sides of throat and across chest. Male: length 

 Fig. 419. ' ( 8 kins) 5.50-6.25, wing 3.12-3.41, tail 2.49-2.70, bill .43- 

 .46. Female : length (skins) 5.21-6.00, wing 3.00-3.30, tail 2.27-2.68, bill 

 .41-.49. 



Remarks. The western vesper sparrow may be distinguished from the 

 eastern by its grayer color, narrower streaks, and usually more slender bill 

 and longer wing and tail. 



Distribution. Upper Sonoran and Transition zones from the Plains to 

 the Pacific, and from British Columbia, Assiniboia, and Manitoba south to 

 Lower California and southern Mexico. Breeds from northern New Mexico 

 and Arizona northward. 



