338 LE CONTE'S SHARP-TAILED BUNTING. 



ridge §, along the gap A; tarsus f ; middle toe f, its claw ^j hind toe f, its 

 No difference appears at this season in the sexes. 



claw |- 



FAMILY XV.*— FRINGILLINiE. FINCHES. 

 Genus Il.f— EMBERIZA, Linn. BUNTING. 



LE CONTE'S SHARP-TAILED BUNTING. 



Emberiza Le Conteii, Aud. 

 PLATE CCCCLXXXVIIL— Male. 



Although we procured several specimens of this pretty little Sharp-tailed 

 Finch, I have at present only one by me, a fine male, however, shot by Mr. 

 J. G. Bell, of New York, on the 24th of May. 



At first sight one might easily mistake it for the Henslow Bunting, but on 

 comparing these two species, not only are distinct characters easily observed, 

 but the localities wherein the present species is found are different, as well 

 as its curious notes and general habits of keeping only among the long green 

 slender grasses that here and there happen to grow in patches of less or 

 greater extent along the margins of creeks found in the different parts of the 

 prairies through which we passed, whilst in the pursuit of the buffalo or 

 bison. 



So closely does it keep in the coverts which it resorts to, that it is difficult 

 to force it to rise on the wing, when only, it can be procured. Its song is 

 sharp, shrill and of a querulous nature. We never could find its nest or 

 young, and cannot give any further accounts of its habits. 



I have named this interesting species after my young friend Doctor Le 

 Conte, son of Major Le Conte, so well known among naturalists, and who 

 is, like his father, much attached to the study of natural history. 



Le Conte's Sharp-tailed Bunting, Emberiza Le Conteii, Aud. 



* See vol. iii. p. 49. t Ibid. p. 58. 



