Lincoln’s Sparrow 389 
of abdomen; ninth primary always longer than the fourth; iris brown, 
bill blackish, a pale spot at base of lower mandible, legs pale horn. 
Length 5-40 ; wing 2-60; tail 2-25 ; culmen -45; tarsus -80. 
The female is a shade smaller, otherwise like the male; young 
birds are like the adults but more bufiy and with less defined 
markings. 
Distribution.—Breeding from arctic North America southwards along 
the Rocky Mountains to Colorado, in the east to New York ; in winter 
south to the southern states and Mexico as far as Panama. 
In Colorado Lincoln’s Finch is a common summer resident, breeding 
in the mountains from 9,000 feet up to timber line, but not, so far as 
I am aware, much below that level or in the plains. It reaches El 
Paso co. in April (though Aiken has seen it early in March) and gradu- 
ally moves into the mountains or further north in May. It comes 
down again in October, leaving for the south soon after (latest date 
in Aiken coll. for El Paso co., September 28th). 
Recorded breeding localities are: Valley of Cache La Poudre, 
Larimer co. (Breninger), South Park, near Fairplay, 9,700 feet 
(Allen & Tresz), Breckenridge (Carter), Lake Moraine on Pikes 
Peak (Aiken), San Juan co. (Drew); on migration: Denver in May 
(Henshaw), Fremont co. and Limon, May (Aiken), Pueblo (Beckham), 
Fort Garland (Henshaw), Fort Lewis (Gilman). 
Habits.—Lincoln’s Sparrow is a very retiring bird, 
seldom leaving the thickets and undergrowth along the 
valleys of rivers and streams, where it keeps near the 
ground and obtains the seeds and insects which make up 
its food ; it is very silent except in the breeding season, 
when it has a low but prolonged song not in any way 
very remarkable. It is stated by Cooke to breed in the 
foothills from 7,000 feet and upwards to timber line ; 
but I have not been able to find evidence of nesting 
below about 9,500 feet. Dennis Gale took numerous 
clutches of eggs at Ward (about 10,000 feet) in Boulder 
co. Full sets of fresh eggs were found by him from 
June 10th to the end of the month, and he believed that 
the later dates represented a second brood. The nests 
were always placed on the ground, well sunk in, and 
sheltered by a tuft of long grass, a bush or a tree; the 
spot was generally a dry one in a damp locality near a 
