The OoLOGiST. 



VOL. XV. NO. 8-10. 



ALBION, N. Y., AUG. OCT., 1898. Whole No. 147 



Bachman's Sparrow. 



{Peucoea cestivalis bachmanii.) 



Several years ago I was asked by a 

 bright looking little negro about eleven 

 years of age, "What little bird is it that 

 can't fly good but runs along on the 

 ground like a rat; and makes its nest 

 in a bunch of sage, laying four little 

 white eggs." Being very much puz- 

 zled and at the same time astonished to 

 be told that a bird having wings could 

 not fly but only used them to flutter 

 and tumble along the ground with, I 

 began to question him about this phen- 

 omenon of a bird, and brought out the 

 fact that it resembled very closely a 

 Field Sparrow, also that when he chased 

 it for some distance it would fly several 

 yards, then run again but he still 

 thought that it couldn't fly good. After- 

 wards he told me that he knew whore a 

 nest with four eggs was, so I immedia- 

 tely set out with him to find the place. 



I was naturally very anxious to se- 

 cure the set and find out something 

 concerning this peculiar bird as I had 

 never before heard of one acting as he 

 told me this one had done, but am 

 afraid then that I was after the eggs 

 just because they would be a new set to 

 add to my collection. This seems to be 

 the impression with too many of our 

 coUectoi's of the present day. 

 .^Soon we came to a field which was 

 covered with sage, a few pines and 

 thickets were scattered throughout it, a 

 very suitable place for this species; here 

 the boy said the nest was situated. We 

 had not gone very far when he stopped 

 and pointed to a tussock of gi'ass and 

 said that the nest was under it on the 

 other side. So I very cautiously went 



around and sure enough there was 

 a little nest of wii-y grass placed 

 under the tussock. Slowly advancing 

 I managed to see a little bird on the 

 nest which resembled very closely a 

 common Field Sparrow. I got within 

 a few feet of her before she slipped ofif 

 the nest and ran along through the 

 grass for nearly one hundred feet then 

 she hopped up on a low limb of a tree 

 and uttered a chirp very similar to a 

 Field or Chipping Sparrow. In a few 

 minutes her mate appeared and they 

 kept chirping continually as long as I 

 was there . 



When I took up the nest I found that 

 a slight hollow had been scratched out 

 by the birds, into this they had put 

 pieces of coarse grass; then as a lining 

 which was very thick, fine grass tops 

 were used. On the whole it was put 

 together rath er substantially and was 

 roofed over or domed, the entrance of 

 which was about two or three inches 

 from the ground, being nearly two and 

 one-half inches in diameter. 



Capt. Charles E. Bendire very ably 

 describes its nests and I think that a 

 much better idea can be gotten con- 

 cerning them by reading what he says 

 than any description that I can offer, 

 so I will quote it in full, as follows: 

 "All the nests of this bird vary totally 

 in structure from those of the other 

 species of the genus Peuccea, as far as 

 known to me. They are all distinctly 

 roofed-over or domed, a feature only 

 found in the nest of a closely allied 

 species, Embernagra rufivirgata, the 

 Texas Sparrow, which constructs a 

 somewhat similar nest. They are cy- 

 lindrical in shape, about seven or eight 

 inches long by three inches in height 

 and four and one-half inches wide. 

 The inner cavity it from three to four 



