Leconte’s Sparrow 361 
This genus contains six species of Sparrow, with several additional 
subspecies, all confined to the eastern and central parts of North 
America (see key, p. 355). 
Leconte’s Sparrow. Passerherbulus lecontei. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 548—Colorado Record—Cooke 98, p. 13; 97, 
p. 214. 
Description. Adult Male—Crown with u median stripe—bufiy 
anteriorly, whitish posteriorly—separating two blackish lateral stripes ; 
rest of the upper-parts dusky with chestnut and pale buffy edgings to 
the feathers ; tail-feathers very narrow and acutely pointed ; a buffy 
superciliary stripe; below pale buffy, whitening on the throat and 
abdomen, streaked with black on the sides of the breast and flanks ; 
edge of the wing white ; no yellow superciliary spot ; bill horn-brown, 
darker at the tip. Length 5-0; wing 2-05; tail 2-0; culmen -36; 
tarsus -70. 
The sexes are alike; the birds in summer are less bright and have a 
black bill. 
Distribution.—Middle of North America, breeding from Saskatchewan 
to northern Illinois, and migrating south to South Carolina and the 
Gulf states. Leconte’s Sparrow is only of accidental occurrence in 
Colorado; it was taken by Carter at Breckenridge on October 24th, 
1886. This is the only record for the State, though it has been obtained 
still further west, at Fort Sherman in north-west Idaho, by Merrill 
on September 28th (“‘ Auk,” XV., p. 16). 
Genus CHONDESTES. 
Medium-sized sparrow-like birds—wing 3-4—with a rather stout, 
conical bill and long and pointed wings; the difference between the 
length of the primaries and secondaries exceeding the length of the 
tarsus; tail about -78 length of the wing, strongly graduated, the 
outer feathers shorter than the middle ones by about the length of the 
culmen. Plumage streaky on the back, head stripped with chestnut, 
tail black, broadly tipped with white. 
Only one species, separated into two races, is recognized ; it is spread 
over western North America and Mexico. 
Western Lark-Sparrow. Chondestes grammicus strigatus. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 552a—Colorado Records—Allen 72, pp. 149, 
156; Henshaw 74, p. 259; Drew 81, p. 139; 85, p. 16; Tresz 81, 
p. 245; Allen & Brewster 83, p. 191; Beckham 85, p. 141; Morrison 
88, p. 74; 89, p. 37; Lowe 92, p. 101; Cooke 97, pp. 19, 102, 214; 
Henderson 03, p. 108; 09, p. 236; Warren 06, p. 22; 08, p. 23; 09, 
p. 16; Gilman 07, p. 156; Markman 07, p. 157; Rockwell 08, p. 172. 
