Hab. From Wisconsin and Illinois (also in Michigan and Ohio) to the Pacific coast; Cape St. Lucas, south to Texas and Mexico. Oaxaca (Scl. 1859, 379); Vera Cruz (winter, Sumichrast, 552); Eastern Massachusetts, accidental (Maynard).
The colors of the female are duller than in the male, the chestnut less bright, the black not so intense; the pattern, however, is the same.
Chondestes grammaca.
The young bird has the breast and throat with a good many spots of dark brown instead of the single large one on the breast. The other markings are more obscure.
Habits. The Lark Finch is found from Eastern Illinois to the Pacific, and from Oregon to Texas. Within this wide area of distribution it is everywhere abundant in the open prairies and plains. It is not found in wooded regions. This bird was described by Say, and was first met with by Long’s expedition to the Missouri River. It was not known to either Wilson or Audubon, and its habits were very imperfectly known to Nuttall.
Mr. Dresser found this bird very abundant in Texas throughout the summer, arriving in the neighborhood of San Antonio in March, and leaving there early in October. He found their nests quite common, and usually built in a mesquite tree or bush, of fine roots and grasses. Dr. Heermann also found it abundant in New Mexico. In Arizona, Dr. Coues found it, chiefly in spring and autumn, a migrant, and, at those seasons, very numerous. Many remain during the summer to breed, and a few are found in the winter. It was met with near New Leon, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch, but was not obtained in Vera Cruz by Sumichrast. It was taken near Oaxaca, Mexico, by Mr. Boucard. A single specimen was obtained at Fort Dalles in Oregon, by Dr. Suckley, but it was not met with by him west of the Cascade Mountains. Mr. Townsend states that he also found it in that region.
Dr. Cooper did not find this species in the Colorado Valley, though it has been obtained at Fort Yuma in December; and, as he has met with them in large flocks in the valleys of San Diego in February, he concludes that they winter in the southern part of California. They breed from San Diego throughout California, and as far north as the Columbia, where they arrive early in May. Dr. Cooper has never found their nest in California, but has frequently met with it in Kansas and Nebraska in May and June. He found them on the ground, and their nests were constructed chiefly of grass.
He speaks of them as singing very sweetly, and states that in their song they resemble the Canary more than any other bird. They frequent the open plains, usually in the neighborhood of trees, upon which they often
alight in flocks. Their food consists of the seeds of grass and other small plants, which they collect on the ground.