_Chondestes grammacus grammacus. Case 7, Fig. 19_
The chestnut and white head markings and the
white-tipped tail-feathers are conspicuous
field-marks. L. 6-1/4.
_Range._ Mississippi Valley; nests from Louisiana
to Minnesota and Ohio; winters from Mississippi
southward; casual east of the Alleghanies, chiefly
in the fall.
Washington, A.V., Aug., two captures. N. Ohio,
rare S.R., Apl. 28. Glen Ellyn, local and uncommon
S.R. SE. Minn., common S.R., Apl. 20-Aug. 2.
Few field experiences have given me more pleasure than the discovery
near my home at Englewood one November 2, many years ago, of a Lark
Finch--one of the 'casuals' which had presumably been carried far from
its course by a severe storm of the preceding days. The bird's strongly
marked face and conspicuously white-tipped tail-feathers made an
impression which testifies to their value as field-characters. In its
own range this beautiful Sparrow is a sweet-voiced inhabitant of the
fields, nesting on the ground or in low trees and bushes, and laying 3-5
white eggs, spotted and blotched with blackish, in May.