290 FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



white ; back and rump streaked with black and ochraceous-buff; lesser wing- 

 coverts black, broadly tipped with white ; tail fuscous, the two outer feathera 

 mostly white ; nape and under parts oohraeeous-buflf. Ad. 9 in summer. — 

 Upper parts black, the feathers margined and tipped with pale cream-bufF; 

 two outer tail-feathers mostly white; under parts pale cream- buff; breast and 

 Bides sometimes lightly streaked with blackish, s in winter. — Similar to 9 

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

 6-60 ; W., 3-75 ; T., 2-50 ; B., -42. 



Range. — Interior of arctic America (chiefly Mackenzie Biver Valley) in 

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

 in winter, over the Great Plains and prairies to Illinois, Texas, etc. 



Nesting, similar to that of the preceding. 



" Their habits are quite similar to those of P. lapponicus while 

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

 clicking note, rapidly repeated several 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. Calcarius ornatiis), a species of 

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



McCowh's Longspur {5S9. RhynchopJmnes mccownii), a species of the 

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



540. Poocsetes gramineus ( Gmel.). Vesper Sparrow ; Bay- 

 winged Bunting ; Grass Finch. Ad. — Upper parts brownish gray, streaked 

 with black and a little oohraeeous-buif ; wings fuscous, greater and middle 



coverts tipped with white, 

 lesser coverts bright rufous ; 

 tail fuscous, the outer feather 

 mostly white, the next one 

 with much less white ; under 

 parts white; the breast and 

 sides streaked with black and 

 ochraceous-buff. L.,6'12; W., 

 8-06 : T., 2-38 ; B., -41. 

 Fig. 82.-Tail-teatber3 of Vesper Sparrow. Jiemarks.—Tha white tail- 



feathers and rufous lesser 

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



Bange.—iioTih America; breeds from southern Illinois and Virginia 

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

 from Virginia southward. 



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



