_Plectrophanes ornatus_, TOWNSEND, J. Ac. Nat. Sc. VII, 1837, 189.—IB.
Narrative, 1839, 344.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 99.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841,
53, pl. cliv.—NUTT. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 537.—BAIRD, Birds N.
Am. 1858, 435. _Emberiza ornata_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 44, pl.
cccxciv, f. 1. _Centrophanes ornatus_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851,
127.
SP. CHAR. Bill dark plumbeous. _Male._ Crown, a narrow crescent on the
side of the head, with a line running into it from behind the eye,
entire breast and upper part of belly all round, black; throat and
sides of the head, lower part of belly and under tail-coverts, with
bases of the tail-feathers, white. The white on the tail-feathers runs
forward as an acute point. A chestnut band on the back of the neck
extending round on the sides. Rest of upper parts grayish-brown,
streaked with darker. Middle coverts with a white patch. Lesser
wing-coverts like the back. Legs dusky, bill blue, darker at tip.
Length about 5.25 inches; wing, 3.20; tail, 2.30; tarsus, .75.
_Female_ lacking the black and chestnut colors; the black of the
breast indicated by dusky streaks and a line of streaks each side of
the throat.
HAB. Plains of the Upper Missouri. San Antonio, Texas, spring
(DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 486).
HABITS. This species was first discovered by Mr. Townsend, who
procured a single specimen, a male, on the Upper Missouri River. He
describes it as by no means a common bird, keeping in pairs and living
exclusively on the ground. It was remarkably shy, and Mr. Townsend was
not able to procure more than a single specimen.
Mr. Nuttall states that he met with this bird early in May, on the
wide grassy plains of the Platte. The birds were already paired for
the season. He heard them utter no notes other than a chirp, as they
kept busily foraging for their subsistence.
Mr. J. A. Allen (American Naturalist, May, 1872) speaks of this bird
and the Lark Bunting as by far the most interesting species seen by
him in Western Kansas. They were not only characteristic of the
region, but were also among the few birds strictly confined to the
arid plains. They were quite abundant, but were only met with on the
high ridges and dry plateaus, where they seemed to live somewhat in
colonies. At a few localities they were always numerous, but elsewhere
would be frequently not met with in a whole day’s drive. They were
very wary and tenacious of life, often flying a long distance after
having been shot through vital parts. Most of the specimens had to be
killed on the wing, at a long range. They are strong fliers, and seem
to delight in flying in the strongest gales, when all the other birds
appear to move with difficulty, and to keep themselves concealed among
the grass. This bird sings while on the wing.
Mr. H. E. Dresser, in his paper on the birds of Southern Texas,
mentions finding the Chestnut-collared Bunting in flocks early in the
spring, on the prairies near San Antonio, but it was not a common bird
there.
Dr. Woodhouse found this species quite rare in the Indian Territory,
where he was only able to secure a single specimen.
Captain Blakiston met with this species on the Saskatchewan Plains on
the 15th of May, 1858,—a higher range than has been noticed by any one
else.
Dr. Heermann, while on a trip to the Rocky Mountains in 1843, met with
this species in small flocks and pairs, scattered over the prairies of
the Platte River, and was so fortunate as to meet with one of its
nests. It was built on the ground, and was made of an interweaving of
fine grasses and lined with hair. He describes the eggs, which were
four in number, as having a white ground, with black lines at the
larger end, and a few faint blotches of a neutral tint scattered over
their whole surface.
This description does not quite correspond with the eggs collected by
Mr. Audubon on the Upper Missouri. These have a clay-colored ground
with the slightest possible tinge of green, and are marked with fine
dots of purplish-brown, and larger markings, blotches, and short lines
of dark brown. They measure .70 by .55 of an inch, and have a strong
resemblance to the eggs of both _P. pictus_ and _P. maccowni_.
Five eggs of this species, obtained at Fort Hays, Kansas, June 1,
1871, by Mr. J. A. Allen, measure .75 of an inch in length by .58 in
breadth. They are small in proportion to the bird, and are somewhat
pointed at one end. Their ground is a gray or grayish-white shade of
stone-color, and this is somewhat sparingly marked with blotches of
dark brown, almost black, and lighter markings of purplish-brown. The
nest was placed on the ground, and was composed altogether of fine
stems of grasses.
Plectrophanes ornatus, var. melanomus, BAIRD.