300 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



their dry, monotonous, high-pitched song. The four or five eggs 

 are laid in the horsehair nest during the latter part of April. 



They leave for the south in October and are seldom seen late in 

 the month (November 5, 1916, only November record) . 



Spizella PALLroA (Swainson). Clay-colored Sparrow. 

 Not uncommon migrant. 



This sparrow is present from the middle of April to the end 

 of the second week in May (May 17, 1916, latest) and again dur- 

 ing October. It does not seem to migrate in very large flocks 

 and, though easily distinguished in the field, it is not a conspic- 

 uous bird and may go unnoticed, unless one is familiar with its 

 hoarse, wheezy song. 



It is found on the prairie regions, about open farming coun- 

 try, and in the bottom lands. It has been noted in the Swope 

 Park and Country Club neighborhoods and is a regular visitor 

 to the Atherton and Courtney districts. 



Spizella pusilla pusilla ("Wilson). Field Sparrow. 



Very common summer resident and occasional winter resident. 



The Field Sparrow arrives in the first week of March, though 

 a few impatient males are heard singing sometimes as early as 

 the 15th of February. It becomes common by the third week 

 of March. During the last half of October and November the 

 bulk of the flight passes south. A few are to be seen in Decem- 

 ber (December 25, 1910; December 17, 1916) and a very small 

 number probably remain all winter. They nest in early May, 

 on the ground or in low bushes. 



Field Sparrows inhabit open places near timber, particularly 

 where there is an undergrowth of buckberry {Symphoricarpus 

 orhiculatus Moench). They are very common about Swope 

 Park. 



Spizella pusilla arenacba Chadbourne. Western Field Spar- 

 row. 

 Migrant, probably not rare. 



The Field Sparrows of this region present a perplexing prob- 

 lem to the writer. A dozen or more skins that have been exam- 

 ined are certainly not typical pusilla, nor do they exhibit all 

 the characters that mark arenacea, though they are much closer, 



