138 THE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



I have taken the nest and eggs of this species from near 

 Calumet Lake, and have also observed the birds at Liverpool, 

 Indiana. I do not know at what date they arrive in the spring, 

 but the fall records would seem to show that they pass through 

 our vicinity during September and October. Nelson's Sparrow 

 has also been taken by Mr. S. F. Dayton, who found it at Hyde 

 Lake on October 6, 1898; by Mr. J. Grafton Parker, Jr., who 

 found it on the wet prairies along the east shore of Lake Calumet 

 on September 19, 1893 ; and by Mr. Eliot Blackwelder, who found 

 it breeding, though uncommon, in the vicinity of Morgan Park, 

 on September 28, 1895. A male specimen was taken by Mr. 

 Harry Swarth at Worth, situated within our limits, on October 

 12, 1905. Mr. Amos W. Butler states that he has a specimen 

 from Hyde Park, Illinois, taken September 21, 1878, and says, 

 in his Birds of Indiana :* "Mr. H. K. Coale informs me that he 

 saw about a dozen Sharp-tailed Finches in the grass along Berry 

 Lake, Lake County, Indiana, September 25, 1875. Dr. A. W. 

 Brayton informed me he had taken this species in Lake County, 

 Indiana." 



This Sparrow frequents the fresh water marshes of the in- 

 terior of the United States and southern Canada, breeding from 

 northern Illinois north to Dakota and Manitoba. It winters as 

 far south as Texas, and visits the Atlantic coast in its migrations. 



Genus CHONDESTES Swainson, 1827. 



Chondestes grammacus (Say). Lark Sparrow. 



Fringilla grammaca SAY, Long's Eip., II, 1823, 139. 



Chondestes grammaca BONAPARTE, Geog. & Comp. List, 1838, 32, 



Popular synonyms: LARK FINCH. POTATO BIRD. 



When Mr. E. W. Nelson wrote his Birds of Northeastern 

 Illinois in 1876 he reported the Lark Sparrow as a common sum- 

 mer resident. It is now, however, a rare summer resident, arriv- 

 ing about the middle of April, and departing in September. Mr. 

 J. Grafton Parker, Jr., informs me that he obtained a nest of 

 this species which contained four eggs, in a pasture near Evans- 

 ton, in June, 1880. 



The range of the Lark Sparrow includes the Mississippi Val- 

 ley region north to Manitoba, and from Michigan, Ohio and On- 

 tario westward to the Plains. It breeds nearly throughout its 

 range and winters as far south as eastern Texas. 



*Twenty-second Annual Report, Dept. Geol. and Nat. Resources, Indiana, 1897, 

 948. 



