BACHMANS SPARROW 963 



feet from the nest. * * * Both parents were carrying insects to the 

 young birds, and they were shy and secretive. When the nest was 

 located (it contained four young birds) both parents nervously flew 

 from low perches in weeds and grass to the ground, remaining within 

 sight for very brief intervals." 



William C. Avery {in Bendire, 1888) had an interesting experience 

 in flushing four juvenile birds, presumably from the nest. They flew 

 like a miniature covey of bobwhites, rising with an audible whir of 

 wings. An additional instance of the actions of fledglings is given in 

 the account of one of the other two races of this species. 



Plumages. — Juvenal plumage: Forehead and crown feathers black, 

 edged (in varying amounts) with buffy brown or reddish brown; 

 pattern irregular streaking. Youngest specimen with least light 

 feather edging (nearly uniform black crown) . Nape similar but more 

 light edging. Back similar, feathers broader. Rump with black 

 much reduced, light color predominating. Upper tail coverts like 

 back. Rectrices blackish with faint suggestion of "herring-bone" 

 pattern. Remiges blackfish, primaries edged with buffy, tertials with 

 rich cinnamon. Tertials margined with cinnamon and buff. Coverts 

 black, lessers edged ^\^th rich cinnamon, medians and greaters narrowly 

 edged with buff or cinnamon buff. Wing bar pattern not prominent. 

 Lores buffy. No distinctive face pattern. Auriculars tinged with 

 buff, spotted with black. Under parts whitish or cream, tinged with 

 buff on flanks and crissum. Chin finely spotted with black; throat, 

 breast, sides, and flanks streaked and spotted with black (most 

 heavily on breast). Leg feathers black and cream. 



Herbert L. Stoddard (in Burleigh, 1958) writes from Grady County, 

 in extreme southern Georgia, in an area where A. a. bachmani inter- 

 grades with A. a. aestivalis: "This species seems to be forever in moult, 

 bob-tailed ragged adults and young being the rule throughout the 

 summer and fall months, while they seem to be replacing lost feathers 

 much of the time during the winter months." 



Food. — A. H. Howell (1924) sums up the food of Bachman's sparrow 

 in the southern part of its range as follows: "The food of this sparrow, 

 as indicated by examination of 10 stomachs from Alabama, consisted 

 of 58 percent animal matter, and 42 percent vegetable. The animal 

 food includes leaf-beetles, 9.3 percent; other beetles, including weevils 

 and longicorns, 23.1 percent. Bugs constituted 12 percent and the 

 other food items were grasshoppers and crickets (5.7 percent) with 

 some snails, spiders, and millipeds. The vegetable food consisted 

 principally of grass seed and the seeds of sedges; wood sorrel and 

 Indian strawberry made up the remainder." 



I can find in the literature no other results of stomach examinations. 

 Sight observations, including my own, add nothing of significance to 



