LE CONTE’S SPARROW. 
331 
As a winter bird of passage it is common in South Carolina, 
and equally abundant in the pine forests of Florida, seeking 
out by choice the light sandy soils overgrown with pines, 
though it keeps on the ground wholly, runniirg with celerity, 
and threading its way through the grass with the nimbleness 
of a mouse. 
Henslow’s Sparrow breeds from southern New England to South 
Carolina, and from Ontario and Illinois southward. One nest has 
been discovered in New Hampshire. It is more abundant to the 
westward than near the Atlantic seaboard. 
LE CONTE’S SPARROW. 
LE CONTE’S BUNTING. 
Ammodramus leconteii. 
Char. General color reddish brown, streaked with brownish black, 
the feathers margined with pale buff ; crown with two black stripes sepa- 
rated by a narrow stripe of pale buthsh gray; cheeks and stripes over the 
eyes buff ; hind neck rufous ; under parts buff, paler on the belly ; no 
streaks on the breast. Bill small and slender; tail-feathers narrow, 
tapering, and e.xtrcmely pointed. Length about 5 inches. 
Nest. In a marsh or wet meadow, raised from the ground by tangled 
grass ; made of fine grass. 
^Sgs. 3-?; delicate pink, with a few spots of brownish and of black 
towards the larger end ; 0.75 X 0.50. 
This interesting bird was first described by Audubon in the 1843 
edition of his work, — issued after Nuttall had written. Audubon 
secured but one specimen, and only one other was discovered until 
1873, when Dr. Cones took several examples on the Dakota plains. 
Since then the species has been found by a number of naturalists, 
and it is now known to breed on the plains of Dakota, Minnesota, 
and Manitoba, migrating in the autumn through Illinois, Iowa, 
Kansas, etc., to South Carolina and Florida. It is by no means 
a rare bird, — Ridgeway thinks it abundant in Illinois, and Thomp- 
son reports it common in Manitoba; but, as Dr. Coues suggests, its 
retiring habits and the nature of its resorts have doubtless caused 
it to be overlooked. 
The birds resemble Henslow’s Sparrow, and the habits of the 
two species are similar. Only one nest and set of eggs have been 
discovered, and they were taken by Mr. Ernest Thompson on the 
Manitoba plains. 
