(teneral Notes 67 



I have a list of nearly a hundred species I have found there, so 

 will not go into further details now. 



Sunday, October 26, 1919, as I walked out there a small spar- 

 row flitted up out of a crack in the planking and then down out of 

 sight again. He looked to be a stranger so I got as near as was 

 safe and waited. The bird soon appeared again with a small yel- 

 low-brown moth in its bill, then down under again for another, 

 keeping this up for as long as I cared to observe it. As I was only 

 about fifteen feet away — frozen stiff of course — and as the bird 

 would stand on a plank in full view for at least a minute at a time, 

 every now and then, I was enabled to note his every characteristic 

 mark. To begin with I called him (if him he was) the very pret- 

 tiest little sparrow yet. Here is a field description, and any one 

 who chooses may trace the identity as easily as I — providing they 

 know practically all of the other sparrows for a starter: " Crown 

 dark brown, with very distinct white or possibly light gray me- 

 dian stripe. Broad yellow buff stripe above eye. Grayish area about 

 ear region, with buff below. A conspicuous white eye ring. Bill 

 grayish. Nape feathers ashy, finely streaked with darker. Back 

 striped with white and black on brown. Tail sharp. Breast and 

 flanks a bright buff color indistinctly streaked with narrow dusky 

 lines. Throat apparently light gray or white unstreaked. Belly 

 clear w^hite, contrasting oddly with buff of lower breast, flanks and 

 under tail coverts. Feet and legs a peculiar tone — diluted red rasp- 

 berry expresses it very well." Certainly a beautiful study in buff 

 and brown set off by the contrasting median stripe, eye ring and 

 back stripes. No one could mistake it after once seeing the bird 

 well, for he wears a livery all his own as far as Ohio is concerned. 



E. A. DOOLITTLE. 



Painesville, Ohio. 



