Part 30

=Indigo Bunting=: Passerina cyanea (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common in mixed-field and heavy brushland habitats. The species extends westerly, in riparian situations, in reduced numbers, ultimately meeting and hybridizing with the Lazuli Bunting. Specimens referrable to the Indigo Bunting have been taken as far west as Finney County, but most specimens from that far west show evidence of interbreeding with Lazuli Buntings. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 19.

Breeding schedule.--Twenty-four records of breeding span the period May 11 to August 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is June 15.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.1, 2-4; 17).

Nests are placed about three feet high (ranging from one to nine feet) in coralberry, sumac, thistle, sycamore sprouts, hickory sprouts, grape, elderberry, cottonwood, dogwood, ragweed, and grasses.

=Lazuli Bunting=: Passerina amoena (Say).--This uncommon summer resident of western Kansas occurs in edge habitats and streamside thickets. The one breeding record is from Morton County, and there is a breeding specimen taken at Sharon Springs, Wallace County. The species hybridizes with the Indigo Bunting in the western half of the State. Temporal occurrence in spring is indicated in Table 19.

Breeding schedule.--Eggs are laid in June and July.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed a few feet from the ground, probably much as are nests of the Indigo Bunting.

=Painted Bunting=: Passerina ciris pallidior Mearns.--This is an uncommon summer resident in the southeastern third of Kansas, in edge habitats and streamside brush. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual nesting records come from Douglas, Shawnee, Geary, Barber, and Crawford counties. Temporal occurrence in spring is indicated in Table 19.

Breeding schedule.--Eggs are laid in June and July.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed in deciduous shrubs and trees.

=Dickcissel=: Spiza americana (Gmelin).--This species is a common summer resident in eastern Kansas and is local and irregular in the west, in grassland habitats. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 19.

Breeding schedule.--Forty-one records of breeding span the period May 1 to July 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying seems to be May 5, but the curiously abrupt inception of breeding described by this sample suggests that more records are needed to document fully the breeding schedule of this species. Breeding in April almost certainly will be found.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 14).

Nests are placed about two feet high (ranging from ground level to 12 feet) in grasses, osage orange, sedge, box elder, honey locust, clover, thistle, and blackberry.

=Pine Siskin=: Spinus pinus pinus (Wilson).--This irregular summer resident occurs locally north of the 38th parallel, chiefly around planted conifers. Known stations of breeding are in Hays, Ellis County, Concordia, Cloud County, and Onaga and St. Marys, Pottawatomie County.

Breeding schedule.--Twelve records of breeding span the period March 11 to May 20 (Fig. 9); most nests have been established in late April or by early May.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. Of ten nests examined for eggs, five had at least one egg of the Brown-headed Cowbird; if it is assumed that each cowbird egg replaced one of the siskins, mean clutch-size is 3.7 eggs.

Nests are placed about seven feet high (ranging from 3.5 to 13 feet) in red cedar, exotic conifers, and Lombardy poplar.

=American Goldfinch=: Spinus tristis tristis (Linnaeus).--This resident is common in woodland edge, scrubby second-growth, old fields, and riparian thickets. Occurrence tends to be local and at low density in the southwestern sector.

Breeding schedule.--Twelve records of breeding span the period June 20 to September 10 (Fig. 9); the modal date for laying is August 5.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.4, 3-6; 8).

Nests are placed from two to eight feet high in woody or herbaceous vegetation.

=Red Crossbill=: Loxia curvirostra Linnaeus.--This is an uncommon and irregular winter visitant to Kansas, but it nested once in Shawnee County. L. c. minor (Brehm), on geographic grounds, probably nested here, but five other subspecies have been recorded in the State and any one of these might have undertaken the aberrant breeding.

Breeding record.--Three eggs, set completed March 24, 1917, Shawnee County; successfully fledged (Hyde, 1917:166). The species usually lays 4 eggs and places its nests in conifers.

=Rufous-sided Towhee=: Pipilo erythrophthalmus erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in understory of woodland and streamside timber. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of nesting come from east of stations in Cloud, Marion, and Cherokee counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 20; records of P. e. arcticus (Swainson) have been eliminated from the sample as far as has been possible.

Breeding schedule.--Nineteen records of breeding span the period April 21 to August 10 (Fig. 9); the modal date for egg-laying is May 5.