IJ ' ' 



290 



FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



white; back and rump streaked with Mack and ochraceous-buft"; lesser wing- 

 coverts black, broadly tipped with white ; tail fuscous, the two outer t'eathera 

 mostly white; nape and under parts odiraceous-butf. Ad. 9 in Hummer. — 

 Upper parts black, the feathers nuirj,'ined and tipped with pale cream-butf; 

 two outer tail-feathers mostly wliite; under parts pale cream-bulf; breast and 

 sides sometimes lijjfhtly streaked with blackish. 6 in winter. — Similar to 9 

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

 600; W., 3-75; T., 2-uO; B., -42. 



7^a?;/7e.- -Interior of arctic America (chiefly Mackenzie River Valley) in 

 summer, breeding north to the arctic coast and upper Yukon Valley; south, 

 in winter, over the Great Plains and prairies to Illinois, Te,\as, etc. 



Nesting., similar to that of the preceding. 



" Thoir habits are quite similar to those of P.htpponicus wliile 

 upon the ground. . . . When flushed they invariably uttered a sharp 

 clicking note, rapidly repeated soveral 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 " 

 (Nelson). 



The Chestnut-collared Longspur {538. Calcariua ornatii.o). a species of 

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



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

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



640. Poocsates ^amineus {Gmel.). Vesper Sparrow; Bay- 

 wiNUEi) Bunting ; CJrass Finch, ^if/.— Upper parts brownish gray, streaked 

 with black and a little ochraceous-bulf ; wings fuscous, greater and middle 



coverts tipped with white, 

 lesser coverts bri(jht rufoua ; 

 tail fuscous, the outer feather 

 mostly tv/iitey the next one 

 with much less wliite ; under 

 parts white; the breast and 

 sides streaked with black and 

 ochraceous-buft. L.,6-12; W., 

 306 : T., S-SS ; B., -41. 



A'emarh.— The w hitc tail- 

 fcatliers and rufous lesser 

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



Jia,i(fe.— 'North America; breeds from southern Illinois and Virginia 

 nortliwiird to New Brunswick and Manitoba; winters on the Atlantic coast 

 from Virginia southward. 



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



Fig. 82.— Tail-feathers of Vesper Sparrow. 





