603.1 MELODIOUS GRASSQUIT. _Tiaris canora._

Another Cuban Finch which has been taken in the Florida Keys. Eggs like
the last.

604. DICKCISSEL. _Spiza americana._

Range.--Interior of the United States, breeding from the Gulf to
northern United States, west to the Rockies, east to the Alleghanies.

A sparrow-like Bunting with a yellow breast patch, line over eye and on
side of throat; throat black, chin white and wing coverts chestnut.
These sleek-coated, harmoniously colored birds are very common in dry
bush-grown pastures and on the prairies. They are very persistent
singers, and their song, while very simple, is welcome on hot days when
other birds are quiet. They nest anywhere, as suits their fancy, on the
ground, in clumps of grass, in clover fields, bushes, low trees, or in
thistles. The nests are made of weeds, grasses, leaves and rootlets,
lined with fine grass, and the three to five eggs are bluish white. Size
.80 x .60.

[Illustration 370: Painted Bunting.]
[Illustration: Greenish blue.]
[Illustration: Bluish white.]
[Illustration: Sharpe's Seed-eater.]
[Illustration: left hand margin.]

Page 369

605. LARK BUNTING. _Calamospiza melanocorys._.

Range.--A bird of the Plains, abundant from western Kansas to eastern
Colorado and north to the Canadian border; winters in Mexico.

These black and white birds have a sweet song which they often utter
while on the wing after the manner of the Bobolink, all their habits
being similar to those of this bird, except that this species likes the
broad dry prairies where it nests on the ground under the protection of
a tuft of grass or a low bush. Their four or five eggs are like those of
the last but slightly larger. Size .85 x .65. Data.--Franklin Co.,
Kansas. 4 eggs. Nest in cornfield in a hollow on the ground at the base
of a stalk; made of straw and weeds.

TANAGERS. Family TANAGRIDAE

607. WESTERN TANAGER. _Piranga ludoviciana._

Range.--United States, west of the Plains and north to British Columbia.

This handsome species is black and yellow, with an orange or reddish
head. They are common and breed in suitable localities through their
range, nesting as do the eastern Tanagers in trees usually at a low
elevation, the nests being saddled on the forks of horizontal branches;
they are made of rootlets, strips of bark, and weed stalks, and are
usually frail like those of the Grosbeaks. Their eggs, which are laid in
May or June, are bluish gree