The Breeding Birds of Kansas Part 19

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 7).

Nests are placed on the ground, at bases of clumps of gra.s.ses.

=Gra.s.shopper Sparrow=: _Ammodramus savannarum perpallidus_ (Coues).--This species is a local and at times common summer resident throughout Kansas, in gra.s.sland. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 20.

_Breeding schedule._--Seven records of breeding fall in the period May 1 to June 30; the modal date of laying seems to be about May 21.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 4-5; 5).

Nests are placed on the ground or in low vegetation, with cover of gra.s.ses or forbs.

=Henslow Sparrow=: _Pa.s.serherbulus henslowii henslowii_ (Audubon).--This is an uncommon and local summer resident in eastern Kansas, in gra.s.sland. Breeding records are from Cloud, Shawnee, Douglas, Morris, and Anderson counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 20.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.

Nests are placed on the ground, usually in bluestem pasture, but in any case gra.s.ses.

=Lark Sparrow=: _Chondestes grammacus_ (Say).--This is a common summer resident in gra.s.sland edge habitats. _C. g. grammacus_ (Say) breeds east of the Flint Hills, east of stations in Pottawatomie, Anderson, and Montgomery counties, and _C. g. strigatus_ Swainson breeds west of stations in Clay, d.i.c.kinson, Harvey, and Sedgwick counties; specimens from the intervening area are of intermediate subspecific character.

Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 20.

_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-nine records of breeding span the period May 1 to July 20 (Fig. 9); the modal date for egg-laying is probably May 25, but the sample may not be reliable in this respect.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 28).

Nests are usually placed on the ground, in cover of pasture gra.s.ses, clover, thistle, milo maize, and soybean; there is one record of a nest one and one-half feet high in a small pine.

=Ca.s.sin Sparrow=: _Aimophila ca.s.sinii_ (Woodhouse).--This is a common summer resident in open scrub and gra.s.sland edge, to the south and west of Wallace and Comanche counties. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual nesting records are from Wallace, Hamilton, Kearny, Finney, Morton, and Comanche counties; the A. O. U. Check-list (1957) cites Hays, Ellis County, as a breeding locality, but it is doubtful that the species now occurs there. _Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are placed on the ground, at bases of small bushes.

TABLE 20.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT AMERICAN BUNTINGS IN KANSAS

=================+===========================+============================ Arrival Departure SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- Range Median Range Median -----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- Rufous-sided Towhee Apr. 2-Apr. 19 Apr. 9 Sept. 20-Oct. 8 Sept. 29 Lark Bunting May 5-May 14 May 10 Gra.s.shopper Sparrow Apr. 12-May 11 Apr. 29 Aug. 20-Oct. 6 Aug. 31 Henslow Sparrow Apr. 14-Apr. 30 Apr. 22 Oct. 15 Lark Sparrow Mar. 29-Apr. 21 Apr. 18 Sept. 13-Oct. 16 Oct. 12 Chipping Sparrow Mar. 6-Apr. 29 Apr. 23 Oct. 3-Nov. 15 Oct. 20 Field Sparrow Mar. 4-Apr. 28 Apr. 7 Oct. 5-Nov. 12 Oct. 30 -----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------

=Chipping Sparrow=: _Spizella pa.s.serina pa.s.serina_ (Bechstein).--This is an uncommon summer resident in open woodland, second-growth, and edge.

_S. p. pa.s.serina_ is found east of stations in Barber and Shawnee counties; Chipping Sparrows are not known to breed farther to the west, but records for north-central Kansas are likely to be found. The subspecific affinities of our Chipping Sparrows are entirely with the nominate subspecies, and there is no basis for earlier reports (Long, 1940; Tordoff, 1956; Johnston, 1960) that _S. p. arizonae_ Coues (= _S.

p. boreophila_ Oberholser) occurs in Kansas.

_Breeding schedule._--Nine records of breeding fall in the period May 1 to May 10, in no way indicating the whole span of the breeding season; the species probably lays eggs in May and July, as well as in June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs.

Nests are placed four to 40 feet high in evergreens of a variety of kinds.

=Field Sparrow=: _Spizella pusilla_ (Wilson).--This species is a common summer resident in gra.s.sland and edge habitats. _S. p. pusilla_ (Wilson) breeds in eastern Kansas chiefly east of the Flint Hills; _S. p.

arenacea_ Chadbourne breeds in central and western Kansas, intergrading easterly with _S. p. pusilla_.

_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-nine records of breeding span the period April 21 to September 10 (Fig. 9); the modal date for first clutches is May 5.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 21).

Nests are placed about 10 inches high (ranging from ground level to three feet) in or among coralberry, osage orange, elm, oak, rose, and, once, peony.

=Chestnut-collared Longspur=: _Calcarius ornatus_ (Townsend).--This was formerly a summer resident in western Kansas, in short-gra.s.s habitat.

The only known nesting area was in the vicinity of Ft. Hays, Ellis County. The species is to be looked for in prairie with short gra.s.s type of vegetation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many persons have contributed field observations such as dates of arrival and departure for migrants, and the various activities of the breeding cycle for most of the species here discussed. An alphabetic listing of their names follows.

Galen Abbot, Ruth Abbot, Ted Anderson, Ted F. Andrews, Jon Barlow, Amelia Betts, Grace Thompson Bigelow, L. C. Binford, Bessie Boso, William J. Brecheisen, J. Walker Butin, L. B. Carson, Mrs. Eunice Dingus, Charles S. Edwards, A. S. Gaunt, Sue Griffith, Mrs. Mary F.

Hall, J. W. Hardy, Stanley Hunter, Katherine Kelley, E. E. Klaas, W. C.

Kerfoot, John A. Knouse, Eugene Lewis, Eulalia Lewis, John Lenz, Nathan H. McDonald, Marno McKaughan, Merrill McHenry, Robert M. Mengel, Robert Merz, Jim Myers, Mary Louise Myers, Mrs. Kathryn Nelson, T. W. Nelson, Steven Norris, Dan Michener, P. W. Ogilvie, Gary C. Packard, Mrs. Marion J. Mengel, Dwight Platt, William Reynolds, Frank Robl, S. D. Roth, Jr., Nancy Saunders, Richard H. Schmidt, Marvin D. Schwilling, T. M. Sperry, Steve Stephens, Max Thompson, Fr. Matthew Turk, Emil Urban, J. W.

Wallace, H. E. Warfel, A. W. Wiens, Mrs. Joyce Wildenthal, George Young, and Richard Zenger.

LITERATURE CITED

ALDOUS, S. E.

1942. The white-necked raven in relation to agriculture. U. S.

Fish and Wildlife Serv., Research Rep. 5:1-56.

AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION, CHECK-LIST COMMITTEE

1957. Check-list of North American Birds (Lord Baltimore Press, Baltimore), xiii + 691 Pp.

BAKER, J. R.