256 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



During the summer of 1879, the writer found this species to be 

 very common in Fairfax county, Virginia, about five miles from 

 Washington. Walking along the road at dusk, a few stars having 

 already made their appearance, he was surprised to hear the pe- 

 culiar note which he had last heard on Fox Prairie, eight years 

 previously. Soon numbers were heard on every hand, the locality 

 being a rather narrow valley between low hills, the lower ground 

 being chiefly damp meadow-land. Pie turning a few days after with 

 a friend, several of the birds were secured. A nest found in this 

 locality the following summer is thus described by Mr. P. L. Jouy, 

 of Washington, in the "Nuttall Bulletin" for January, 1881, pp. 

 57, 58: 



"Nest rather rude and irregularly shaped, composed externally of 

 coarse grass, lined with exceedingly fine grass-tops circularly dis- 

 posed and well finished, but without any horse-hair; no other ma- 

 terial than grass was used in its construction. The nest is about 

 four inches in diameter, about two inches in heighth, and two inches 

 inside diameter; it was placed in the centre of a large clump of 

 wild clover (Trifoliu< uyrarium}, and rested directly on the ground 

 without any appearance of a cavity. The clover had grown up 

 about a foot or more in height and completely surrounded the nest, 

 which was only discovered by parting it. The female was secured 

 as she flew from the nest. The eggs, four in number, are much 

 blotched and speckled all over with a mixture of madder-brown and 

 sepia, the color becoming more confluent on the larger end ; there 

 are also a few dashes and dots of very dark sepia, almost black, 

 scattered among the spots. One of the eggs has a number of large 

 blotches of a lighter tint than the spots scattered all over it so as 

 to almost form a ground tint for the spots. The ground color is a 

 delicate greenish white. The measurements, in hundredths of inches, 

 are as follows: .75 x .00, .75 x .58, .75 x .56, .75 x .60. The eggs, 

 taken June 3, contained large embryos within four or five days of 

 hatching. As I took full-fledged young last year on the 12th of 

 July, they undoubtedly raise two broods in a season. 



"The above described nest and eggs were taken in the locality 

 where Mr. Eidgway found the birds last year (see this Bulletin, 

 Vol. IV., p. 238), near Falls Church, Fairfax Co., Va. They are 

 more or less common in all suitable places, probably a dozen pairs 

 breeding in this and the adjoining meadows. 



"Since writing the above, two fully-fledged young birds have been 

 taken (June 6) in the same place. The birds have been also seen 



