Part 31

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.0, 3-7; 14).

Nests are placed on the ground, in heavy cover.

=Lark Bunting=: Calamospiza melanocorys Stejneger.--This species is ordinarily a common summer resident in western Kansas, in grassland and open scrub. Specimens taken in the breeding season and all breeding records except one for western Franklin County come from west of stations in Decatur, Ellis, and Comanche counties. Irregular fluctuations in breeding density have been recorded from Decatur County (Wolfe, 1961). Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 20.

Breeding schedule.--Fourteen records of breeding span the period May 21 to June 20; the modal date of egg-laying cannot be determined from the present sample.

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

Nests are placed on the ground, at bases of clumps of grasses.

=Grasshopper Sparrow=: Ammodramus savannarum perpallidus (Coues).--This species is a local and at times common summer resident throughout Kansas, in grassland. 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 grasses or forbs.

=Henslow Sparrow=: Passerherbulus henslowii henslowii (Audubon).--This is an uncommon and local summer resident in eastern Kansas, in grassland. 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 grasses.

=Lark Sparrow=: Chondestes grammacus (Say).--This is a common summer resident in grassland 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, Dickinson, 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 grasses, clover, thistle, milo maize, and soybean; there is one record of a nest one and one-half feet high in a small pine.

=Cassin Sparrow=: Aimophila cassinii (Woodhouse).--This is a common summer resident in open scrub and grassland 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 | | Grasshopper | | | | 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 passerina passerina (Bechstein).--This is an uncommon summer resident in open woodland, second-growth, and edge. S. p. passerina 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 grassland 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.