6 TH E -A'\U DIU B'O'‘N® BU LILA STE aes 
southern third of the state, make a special effort to find Sprague’s Pipits in 
winter and during the migration periods. It is possible that the species has 
been overlooked because of its preference for a restricted habitat. 
A preference for a restricted habitat is also characteristic of the Le- 
conte’s Sparrow (Passerherbulus caudacutus), a species which often escapes 
observation because of its small size and secretive behavior. Ridgway (Ann. 
Lyceum Nat. Hist. N.Y., 10:393, 1874) includes Leconte’s Sparrow in a list 
of birds to be looked for. Nelson (Bul. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1:40, 1876) collected 
a specimen at Riverdale on May 138, 1875, and considered the species rare. 
Ridgway (Bul. Nutt. Orn. Club, 5:32, 1880) recorded notes by Charles K. 
Worthen indicating that Leconte’s Sparrows probably bred on the prairies 
of Illinois (presumably around Warsaw) and that they were fairly common 
(some twenty specimens collected) in spring, summer and fall. Ridgway 
(Bul. Nutt. Orn. Club, 8:58, 1883) found Leconte’s Sparrows in great abund- 
ance on Sugar Creek Prairie in the southern part of Richland County in 
October of 1882. However, he stated that he was somewhat “surprised” to 
find them, which indicates that he did not usually find them, at least not in 
abundance. Abbott (Wilson Bul., 23:53-54, 1911) reported that this species 
nested in the Chicago region in 1910, but Peabody (Wilson Bul., 24:36-39, 
1912) questioned this nesting record in no uncertain terms. 
Leconte’s Sparrows have been reported recently in spring and fall a num- 
ber of times with most of the records coming from northeastern Illinois ( the 
region with the highest concentration of observers). Ford (Chi. Acad. Sci. 
Spec. Publ. No. 12:88, 1956) considers the species a fairly common migrant 
and rare summer resident in the Chicago region, and Smith and Parmalee 
(Ill. State Mus. Pop. Sci. Ser., 4:56, 1955) consider it an uncommon and 
irregular migrant. Hammond (Auwk., 60:600, 1948) reported finding a nest 
with three eggs on May 30, 1932, near Evergreen Park, Cook County, but 
additional well authenticated nesting records are to be desired. 
Thus, while opinions as to the status of Leconte’s Sparrow in Illinois have 
varied considerably from author to author, the species has never been con- 
sidered a winter resident in the state so far as I know. Though I have had 
an opportunity to observe Leconte’s Sparrows on their regular wintering 
grounds in Louisiana and Oklahoma, I have never seen them in greater con- 
centration than during December and January of 1956-57 in certain fields 
in southern Illinois. I found the Leconte’s Sparrow at the following locali- 
ties: 2 miles northwest of Browns, Edwards County, December 27, 1956; 
1 mile west of Royalton, Franklin County, Jan. 8, 1957; 1 mile west of Steel- 
ville, Randolph County, Jan. 10, 1957; and 1.3 miles south of Olmstead, Pula- 
ski County, Jan. 12, 1957. In Edwards County I saw seven or eight birds as 
I crossed a small field. They were equally abundant in Franklin County, but 
I saw only two or three at each of the other localities. 
The habitat, similar at all of the localities, could be characterized as a 
dense stand of mixed grasses and weeds 1-3 feet high. The Edwards County 
and Franklin County localities were fallow fields overgrown with foxtail 
grass (Setaria), broom sedge (Andropogon virginicus), golden rod (Solida- 
go), and other grasses and forbs. The birds, characteristically, flushed close, 
flew a short distance (10-25 yards), and then dropped back into the dense 
cover. As always they were difficult to flush a second time. 
