FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC.: LARK BUNTING . 719 
LARK BUNTING: Calamospiza melanocorys Stejneger 
Plate 77 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 6.1-7.2 inches, wing 3.3-3.6, tail 2.6-2.8, 
bill .5-.6. Female: Length (skins) 5.7-6.5 inches, wing 3.2-3.3, tail 2.4-2.7, bill 
.5. Bill stout, conical, wings long and pointed, feet stout. Adult male in summer: 
Wholly black or slaty except for white edgings and white patch on wings, and white 
edgings on tail coverts and outer tail feathers. Adult female in summer: Upperparts 
grayish brown streaked with dusky, wing patch smaller, tinged with buffy; under¬ 
parts white, streaked with dusky. Adult male in winter: Like adult female but 
chin black and feathers of underparts black beneath the surface. Adult female 
in winter: Like summer female but less grayish brown and paler markings more 
buffy. Young: Similar to adult female, but more buffy, feathers of upperparts 
edged with buffy white and streaks on underparts narrower. 
Range. —Great Plains of middle North America. Breeds in Transition and 
Upper Sonoran Zones from southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, south¬ 
western Manitoba, and west-central Minnesota south to northwestern Texas and 
New Mexico; winters south from southern Arizona and southern Texas on Mexican 
tableland to Guanajuato, and in Sonora and southern Lower California. Occasional 
in migration west of Rocky Mountains to southern California (“sporadically com¬ 
mon/’) and east to western Iowa, southeastern Minnesota, and Ontario. Recorded 
from British Columbia. 
State Records. —On the plains of eastern Colorado, the Lark Bunting is an 
abundant breeder south to within a few miles of the New Mexico line. It is less 
common in western Colorado, but eggs have been taken at Navajo Springs near 
the southwestern corner of the State. In New Mexico, a single male was seen on 
the plains between Lopazville and Cabra Springs, June 24, 1903, and may have 
been nesting (Bailey). [In the vicinity of Santa Rosa, Pecos Valley, the latter 
part of June and the first of July in 1918, “males were floating about singing, one 
at a place.” On the Staked Plains about 55 miles southeast of Roswell on May 
30, 1919, a nest was found, and about 20 miles northwest of Lovington a recently 
destroyed nest with eggs was located (Ligon). About Vaughn the birds nested in 
profusion in 1919. Fifteen miles east, a nest with five fresh eggs was found, May 
29. In eastern New Mexico, from Carlsbad to Cimarron, May 27-June 22, 1924, 
they were widely distributed (Ligon).J 
Those that do not breed in New Mexico migrate late in the spring and return 
very early in the fall. In the Zuni Mountains at Agua Fria Spring, 8,000 feet, 
where it certainly did not breed, it was first seen July 22, 1905 (Hollister); near 
Zuni a few were noted July 25, 1873 (Henshaw); at 4,100 feet in the Guadalupe 
Mountains it was abundant July 31, 1901 (Bailey); near Koehler Junction, it was 
common from July 28 to September 20,1913 (Kalmbach); a flock was seen at Mesilla 
Park, August 4, 1913 (Merrill); and the first two weeks in August, 1910, thousands 
were seen at Carlsbad (Dearborn). Thousands have also been observed in Gua¬ 
dalupe County (E. F. Pope). [A specimen was taken, August 2, 1916, at Silver 
City (Kellogg); on August 4, 1922, a male and female were seen near San lldefonso 
Pueblo (Jensen); it was noted near Deming and Socorro August 26 and 27, 1917, 
and two were seen, August 28, 1917, west of Socorro (Ligon).] During September 
this is one of the most abundant birds on the open plains of New Mexico, rang¬ 
ing to 7,200 feet near Las Vegas (Bailey); Rinconada, 6,000 feet (Surber); and 
to Silver City, 6,000 feet (Hunn). The bulk departs in September, but a small 
flock w T as seen at Carrizozo, October 28, 1902 (Gaut), and it was common until 
late in October at Apache (Anthony). 
