19 



The Chipping Sparrow, like the Marsh Wren {Telmatodytes palustris) 

 and some other species, has the habit of waking up in the night and 

 singing. This has also been noted by John Burroughs, C. Hart 

 Merriam, and other writers. Another occurrence, to which attention 

 has also been repeatedl}'- called, is a singular accident to whicli this 

 species appears to be especially liable, viz. : the frequency with which 

 it meets a tragic end, in consequence of having accidentally become 

 inextricably entangled in the long hairs with which it lines its nest. 

 Three instances of the occurrence of this accident have come under 

 my own observation. The last was shown me by Miss Anna B. 

 Warner, of Constitution Island, in which case the bird was com- 

 pletely netted in the horsehair, which was wound about its wings 

 in the most intricate manner. In the other cases the birds were 

 found suspended from their nests by a single hair, which encircled 

 their necks. In one case the male bird attracted my attention by its 

 repeated cries of distress; and I found the female suspended in the 

 manner indicated, in which condition it had evidently remained for 

 a day or two, as it was very putrid. 



Dimensions. — Average measurements of eleven specimens : length, 

 5-37; stretch, 8-73; Aving, 2-74; tail, 2-29; culmen, -36; tarsus, -6-1:. 



85. Spizella pusilla (Tr«7sou). Fikld Sparrow. An abundant 

 summer resident, arriviug iu April (28, 1874; 21, 1875; 17, 1876; 26, 

 1879) ; begins to lay its eggs about the middle of May (16, 1876 ; 18, 

 1878). It has a very pleasant song. 



Dimensions. — Average measurements of six specimens : length, 

 568; stretch, 8*14; wing, 2*50; tail, 2-55; culmen, -40; gape, -42; 

 tarsus, -74; middle toe, "50; middle toe and its claw, -Qo. 



86. Zonotrichia albicollis ((r»ieZm). Wiiite-throated Spar- 

 row. A very abundant spring and fall migrant, arriving, in spring, 

 towards the last of April, and remaining till late iu May (5, 1873; 

 April 22 to May 16, 1874; April 30 to May 23, 1875; April 22 to May 

 28, 1876; April 2 to May 22, 1877; April 27 to May 18, 1878; April 23 

 to about May 30, 1879; April 14 to May 25, 1880). It reaches us, in 

 autumn, towards the end of September (30, 1874; 23, 1876; 23, 1878), 

 and stays till about the middle of November, Dr. A. K. Fisher saw 

 it at Sing Sing, on the Hudson, on December 1, 1878. It is a regular 

 winter resident in the Central Park, New York City. Mr. Eugene P. 

 Bicknell says,^ in an article read before the Linn«an Society of New 

 York, and treating of some birds of Riverdale, on the Hudson : "A 

 flock of white-throated sparrows {Zonotrichia albicolUs), have been 

 about the place all winter, coming to roost in the evening among 

 some large spruce trees close to the house. A few others have 



s '• The Country," Vol. 1, No. 23, p. 324, March 30, 1878. 



