BIRDS OF KANSAS. 491 



Passerina amoena (SAY). 



LAZULI BUNTING. 

 PLATE XXIX. 



Summer resident in the western part of the State; rare. Ar- 

 rive early in May; begin laying about the first of June; leave 

 in September. 



B. 386. R. 249. C. 296. G. 126, 247. U. 599. 



HABITAT. Western United States; east to the Great Plains; 

 south in winter into Mexico; breeding in suitable localities 

 throughout their United States range. 



SP. CHAR. 'Male: Upper parts generally, with the head and neck all round, 

 greenish blue; the interscapular region darker. Upper part of breast pale 

 brownish chestnut, extending along the sides, and separated from the blue of the 

 throat by a faint white crescent; rest of under parts and axiilars white. A 

 white patch on the middle wing coverts, and an obscurely indicated white band 

 across the ends of the greater coverts. Loral region black. Female: Brown 

 above, tinged with blue on rump and tail; whitish beneath, tinged with buff on 

 the breast and throat; faint white bands on wings." 



Stretch of 

 Length. luing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 5.65 9.05 2.85 2.35 .70 .40 



Female... 5.45 8.60 2.65 2.20 .67 .40 



Iris dark brown; bill upper and tips of lower blackish, rest 

 blue; legs, feet and claws brownish black. 



This prettily colored species is similar in habits and actions to 

 the Indigo Bunting, which it replaces in the west. Its song is 

 said by some writers to be very different, yet to my ear it is 

 similar, but uttered in a more feeble and less lively strain. 



Their nests are also built in low bushes, and of the same mate- 

 rial and make-up. Eggs usually four; bluish white; in form, 

 oval. A set of four eggs, taken May 26th, 1884, in a canon, near 

 San Diego, California, was built near the ends of thick branches 

 of a bush, about four feet from the ground. It was composed 

 wholly of branching stems from flowering weeds, and lined with 

 the finer stems of the same. The eggs were, in dimensions: 

 .75x.59, .76x.59, .80x.50, .80x.59; in form, oval. 



