FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 325 



the western lark sparrow, occurring west of the Mississippi, 

 appears to be more abundant than the eastern form. 



Mr. Ridgway describes the song as being composed of 

 a series of chants, each syllable rich, loud, and clear, inter- 

 spersed with emotional trills. 



These birds nest in INIay and June. The nests are built 

 on the ground, in weedy fields or neglected pastures. One 

 of their favorite nesting spots when the birds were common 

 about Chicago, was the right-of-way between the railroad 

 bed and the fence enclosing the tracks. 



Mr. E. R. Ford, one of Chicago's advanced bird stu- 

 dents, presented me with a nest of four eggs taken May 31, 

 1891, along the railroad track in what is now the subdivi- 

 sion of Arg>^le Park, Chicago. The nest was composed of 

 wood fiber, rootlets, and grass, lined with horse hair. The 

 four eggs have a white background and are beautifully 

 marked with black scrawls and lines, suggestive of the 

 Baltimore oriole or red- winged blackbird. 



THE HARRIS'S SPARROW* 



Dr. Coues has said of the Harris's Sparrow that it may 

 be regarded as the most characteristic bird of the Missouri 

 region. Its range is mainly confined to the central United 

 States, reaching from Illinois on the east to middle Kansas 

 and the Dakotas on the west. North and south its range 

 extends from the interior of British America to Texas. 

 During its migrations it travels in small flocks, which sud- 

 denly appear in patches of shrubbery, wliere it feeds for a 

 time and soon disappears as quietly and suddenly as it 



