BIRDS OF KANSAS. 373 



indistinctly streaked with darker. Upper mandible plumbeous black, lower 

 bluish plumbeous; iris deep brown; legs and feet brownish black. Adult male, 

 in winter: Similar to the spring plumage but darker, with the vinaceous some- 

 what obscured by grayish brown, the black by pale tips to the feathers, and yel- 

 low of throat slightly deeper. Adult female, in spring: Above, grayish brown, 

 the pileum narrowly and distinctly, the dorsal region broadly and less sharply, 

 streaked with dusky; nape, lesser wing coverts and shorter upper tail coverts 

 dull light vinaceous, the first very distinctly streaked. A narrow frontlet and 

 broader superciliary stripe (the latter very sharply defined above) dull white: 

 lores, suborbital region and triangular patch on cheeks dull brownish black, 

 without sharp definition posteriorly; auriculars drab, the anterior half lighter; 

 chin and throat white, the former faintly tinged with yellowish; jugular crossed 

 by a distinct band of blacf , narrower and less intense in color than in the male; 

 rest of lower parts white, tinged with pale brownish on breast, the sides (espe- 

 cially of breast) pale Isabella brownish, the flanks indistinctly streaked with 

 darker. Adult female, in winter: Differing from the summer plumage in being 

 browner, and with the streaks of the pileum less distinct, the whitish frontlet 

 obsolete, and the superciliary stripe less sharply defined; the lores, suborbital 

 region and cheeks dull brownish, like the auriculars, the latter with an indis- 

 tinctly lighter central spot; chin and throat dull buffy white, with a tinge of 

 straw yellow, changing to clearer buffy white on sides of foreneck; jugulum 

 with an indistinct blackish patch, the feathers broadly bordered with dull whit- 

 ish. Whole breast and sides light Isabella color, indistinctly streaked' with 

 darker; abdomen and crissum white. Young, first plumage: Above, brownish 

 black, the wings brownish; back dotted with sharply defined deltoid and rhom- 

 boid specks of white; pileum with similar but much more minute markings, and 

 rump also varied in the same manner, but spots rather more transverse than on 

 the back. Lesser and middle wing coverts brownish black, broadly tipped with 

 buffy white; greater coverts dusky, edged with Isabella brown, and narrowly 

 tipped with pale buff; prevailing color of closed remiges Isabella brown, the ter- 

 tials, however, darker brown, bordered with buff, this bordered internally with 

 a dusky submargin. Lower parts dull white, the jugulum, sides of breast, and 

 sides, dull Isabella buff, spotted or clouded with dusky. (Henshaw.) 



Stretch of 

 Length. -wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 7.40 13.25 4.20 2.90 .83 .45 



Female... 6.90 12.25 4.00 2.75 .80 .45 



Iris brown; bill dark brown to blackish, with under pale or 

 bluish white at base; legs and feet blackish; claws black. 



The races of this family so gradually shade 'into each other 

 that it is often perplexing to satisfactorily separate and deter- 

 mine the same. 



The birds inhabit the old fields, roadsides, prairies and plains. 

 They are terrestial and gregarious in their habits, and often to 

 be seen during the winter months running about with the Snow- 



