_Emberiza lecontei_, AUD. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 338, pl.
cccclxxxviii.—MAX. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 340. _Coturniculus
lecontei_, BON. Conspectus, 1850, 481.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
452.
SP. CHAR. Bill much more slender than in _C. henslowi_. First quill
the longest, the rest diminishing rapidly. Tail emarginate and
rounded, with the feathers acute. Upper parts light yellowish-red,
streaked with brownish-black; the margins of the feathers and
scapulars pale yellowish-white. Tail-feathers dusky, margined with
light-yellowish. Lower parts, with the cheeks and a broad band over
the eyes, fine buff. Medial line yellowish anteriorly, nearly white
behind. The buff extending to the femorals and along the sides,
streaked with brownish-black. Throat, neck, and upper parts of the
breast, without any streaks, and plain buff. Length, 4.40; wing, 2.13;
bill along ridge, .37; edge, .50. Legs flesh-color; bill dark blue.
HAB. Mouth of Yellowstone, to Texas.
Since the regret expressed in the Birds of North America (1858) at the
loss of the single specimen known of this species, another has been
received by the Smithsonian Institution from Washington Co., Texas,
collected by Dr. Lincecum. It is in very poor condition, having been
skinned for an alcoholic preparation, and does not admit of a
satisfactory description of the colors. In its unspotted breast, the
rufous feathers of the hind neck, the absence of maxillary stripes,
and apparently in the markings of the wings, it is most like _C.
passerinus_. Although the inner tail-feathers have the narrow stripe
of _henslowi_, the bill is much smaller, as stated by Audubon, than in
the others, and is apparently bluish, not yellow. The vertical stripe
is deep buff anteriorly, and pale ashy posteriorly, instead of buff
throughout, and the superciliary stripe is continuously buff, instead
of yellow anterior to, and ashy behind, the eye. In the comparative
length of wing and tail, it is most nearly related to _henslowi_, but
the bill is very much narrower than in either. Upon the whole, there
can be no doubt of its actual specific distinctness from both its
allies.
HABITS. Leconte’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow was procured by Audubon in his
expedition to the Yellowstone. He speaks of its having very curious
notes, which he describes as of a sharp, querulous nature, and a
general habit of keeping only among the long, slender green grasses
that here and there grew up in patches along the margins of the
creeks. So closely did it keep in the coverts to which it resorted,
that it was very difficult to force it to rise on the wing, when only
it could be procured. Mr. Audubon did not meet with its nest or young,
and they remain unknown.
This type specimen was presented by Audubon to Professor Baird. A
second was sent to the Smithsonian Institution, from Texas, by Dr.
Lincecum.
Coturniculus passerinus, BONAP.