. Handbook of birds of the western United States including the great plains, great basin, Pacific slope, and lower Rio Grande valley . nish,streaked ; chest with wedge-shaped blackish streaks. Male : length (skins), wing , tail , bill . Female: length(skins) , wing , tail , bill . Distribution. — Breeds in Transition and Upper Sonoran zones, fromBritish Columbia and Manitoba south to the plateau of Mexico, and fromthe plains to California; migrates to Guatemala. Nest. — On ground or in bushes or trees, sometimes in mistletoe o
. Handbook of birds of the western United States including the great plains, great basin, Pacific slope, and lower Rio Grande valley . nish,streaked ; chest with wedge-shaped blackish streaks. Male : length (skins), wing , tail , bill . Female: length(skins) , wing , tail , bill . Distribution. — Breeds in Transition and Upper Sonoran zones, fromBritish Columbia and Manitoba south to the plateau of Mexico, and fromthe plains to California; migrates to Guatemala. Nest. — On ground or in bushes or trees, sometimes in mistletoe ormesquite, made of dried grasses, plant stems, and fibers. Eggs: 3 to 6,white, sometimes with a faint bluish or brownish tinge, speckled and linedchiefly on larger end with black and brown. Food. — Grasshoppers, locusts, and weevils, with seeds of weeds andgrass, and waste grain. The lark sparrow is one of the commonest, most familiar westernbirds, seeming equally at home when walking over the smooth lawnof a Pasadena millionaire, singing from the top of the sagebrush, orperching on a Spanish bayonet on a rocky Texas WESTERN LARK SPARROW FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 337 As he sits he has a trick of raising his crown every few minutes,calling especial attention to his directive face marking, and themoment he flies his white tail crescent shows conspicuously. He is much in evidence, not only from his abundance and his con-spicuous markings but from his musical song, which is heard almostcontinuously wherever he is found. The song is long and varied andhas a purring phrase which is especially characteristic. Like thehouse finch he sings with fine fervor when dancing before his matewith spread tail and quivering wings. GENUS ZONOTRICHIA. General Characters. — Bill small, compressed, conical; tail nearly or quiteas long as wing, slightly rounded ; tarsus not more than a third the lengthof tail. KEY TO ADULT MALES. 1. Top of head wholly black or mottled querula, p. 337. 1.
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