4 THE WILSON BULLETIN— March, 1921 



stantially built of coarse grass and was lined with line 

 grass and a few long- horse hairs. There was no depression 

 in the groniid nnder the nest. The half acre adjacent to 

 the site was low and damp and covered with long grass. 

 A prolonged drouth had no doubt driven the birds from 

 their usual habitat on higher ground to this relatively 

 damp spot. The parent birds did not assert their presence 

 while the nest was being photographed. 



A week later, and within 50 feet of tlie nest site, I 

 flushed a Bachmans Sparrow which feigned crippledness as 

 it fluttered off through the grass. A search revealed two 

 young birds just learning to fly and which were captured. 

 The one parent bird present remained near and most per- 

 sistently endeavored to lure me awaj' by fluttering through 

 the grass, sometimes coming to within five feet of where I 

 held the young in my hand. 

 Nashville, Tenn. 



COMPAEATIVE 1»ERI0DS OF NESTLING LIFE 

 OF SOME NORTH AMERICAN NII)IC0L3: 



BY FRANK L. BURNS 



The term Nidicolae ( Altrices) as defined by Dr. Newton 

 indicates the species or groups of birds having the young- 

 bom in a more or less helpless condition, unable to leave 

 the nest for some time and fed directly by the parent. 

 Little reliance, however, can be placed upon the mere fact 

 of direct feeding of the young by the parents as a diag- 

 nosis of Nidicolfe, since the young of many prtecocial gi'oups 

 (the Orebes, Loons, Murrelets, Gulls, Terns, Flamingoes 

 and Cranes) are also heterophagous ; therefore the dis- 

 tinction is better expressed b}^ Dr. Gadow : in a condition in 

 which the development of the sense, tegiimentary and lo- 

 comotory organs are shifted on to the post-embryonic pe- 

 riod ; in distinction to NidifugiP (PriPcoces), in which 

 the development of the same organs are far advanced, 

 enabling the young to leave the nesting site almost im- 

 mediately after birth. 



Modern systematists place little reliance on the con- 



