FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 
329 
tipped with black — outer feather almost entirely white. Adult male in 
summer: crown black in sharp contrast to white superciliary; shoulder patch 
reddish brown ; back brownish gray, streaked with black ; sides of head and 
throat whitish, with black streak from bill alongside of throat; chest with 
black crescentic patch; rest of under parts white, more or less mixed with 
black, especially on sides. Adult male in winter: upper parts uniform brown¬ 
ish buff, streaked with blackish brown; black of chest largely hidden by 
buffy tips to feathers. Adult female : like winter male, but without black 
chest patch or rufous shoulder patch, brownish above and buffy below; in 
summer grayer above and whiter below. Young : upper parts dusky, the 
feathers broadly bordered with pale buff ; under parts white, distinctly 
washed with buff across chest, chest sometimes indistinctly streaked. Male : 
length (skins) 5.26-5.71, wing 3.50-3.69, tail 1.90-2.20, bill .44-.S2. Fe¬ 
male: length (skins) 5.02-5.41, wing 3.15-3.42, tail 1.80-1.98, bill .42-.4T. 
Distribution. — Breeds on the interior plains from the Saskatchewan 
south to eastern Nebraska winters south through Texas and Arizona to 
northern Mexico. 
Nest. — On ground in open places, composed largely of dried grasses, 
lined usually with hair and feathers. Eggs: 3 to 6, similar to those of 
the chestnut-collared longspur, but usually with ground color more olive. 
Food. — Largely weed seed. 
The habits of Bhynchophanes are very similar to those of the other 
longspurs. When disturbed at a meal they circle in undulating 
flight uttering, Colonel Goss says, ‘ a chip note at each stroke of the 
wing.’ In the breeding season they have a flight song like that of 
the Lapland longspur, hovering with wings pointed almost straight 
upwards. 
GENUS POCECETES. 
General Characters. — Bill small, conical; wing long and pointed ; tail 
emarginate ; tarsus longer than middle toe with claw. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
1. Larger, coloration grayer above. Plains to Pacific . confinis, p. 329. 
V. Smaller, coloration browner above. In California and Oregon. 
affinis, p. 330. 
540a. Pooecetes gramineus confinis Baird. Western Ves¬ 
per Sparrow. 
Upper parts brownish gray narrowly streaked with dusky; bend of wing 
reddish brown; outer tail feathers partly white; under parts 
dull white, more or less tinged with pale buffy; streaked 
along sides of throat and across chest. Male: length 
(skins) 5.50-6.25, wing 3.12-3.41, tail 2.49-2.70, bill .43- 
.46. Female: length (skins) 5.21-6.00, wing 3.00-3.30, tail 2.27-2.68, bill 
.41-.49. 
Bemarks. — The western vesper sparrow may be distinguished from the 
eastern by its grayer color, narrower streaks, and usually more slender bill 
and longer wing and tail. 
Distribution. — Upper Sonoran and Transition zones from the Plains to 
the Pacific, and from British Columbia, Assiniboia, and Manitoba south to 
Lower California and southern Mexico. Breeds from northern New Mexico 
and Arizona northward. 
Fig. 419. 
