LE CONTE’S SHARP-TAILED BUNTING. 
221 
ridge f, along the gap h ; tarsus % ; middle toe $, its claw O ; hind toe §, 
its claw I. 
No difference appears at this season in the sexes. 
FAMILY XV.* — FRIN GILLULE. FINCHES. 
Genus Il.f— EMBERIZA, Linn. BUNTING. 
LE CONTE’S SHARP-TAILED BUNTING. 
Emberiza Le Conteii, Aud. 
PLATE CCCCLXXXVni.— 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, muck attached to the study of natural history. 
Le Conte’s Sharp-Tailed Bunting, Emberiza Le Conteii , Aud. 
* See vol. iii. p. 49. f Ibid. p. 58. 
