84 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA 
them perhaps only once or twice during the summer, and 
always in July. It has been my misfortune never to 
secure a specimen of these sparrows, so as to remove 
all doubt as to their identity. In the summer of 1887, in 
July, while returning home from a barbecue and shoot- 
ing match, given by Mr. R. Jeffries, not far from that 
gentleman’s home, two large sparrows, with the tails 
tipped with white, rose from the grass in front of my 
horse, and perched on the fence by the road. I had a 
gun, but no cartridges—at least none that I thought suit- 
able. I returned to Mr. Jeffries’ for shells; he had none. 
I then took two heavily loaded shells, which had already 
missed fire, and inserted them in my gun, a Lefever semi- 
hammerless; the gun had weak mainsprings, and I had 
turned out the screws on the under side of the frame to 
strengthen the mainsprings. This caused the plungers 
to project so much from the standing breech that I had to 
cock the gun to close it. In letting down the hammers, 
or rather in uncocking the gun, I pressed the triggers 
before placing my thumb on the lever; the gun was dis- 
charged, and eight drams of powder and two and a half 
ounces of shot drove the butt of the gun with such force 
against my thigh that I was paralyzed with pain and 
was hors de combat for that day, and for some time after. 
I was thus disappointed in obtaining the coveted speci- 
men of this to me unknown and rare bird. 
“In July of 1886, while on my way to Faunsdale, I saw 
two miles south of Greensboro, about a half dozen of 
these sparrows, in an osage orange hedge. I had my gun, 
and fired at one of the birds, but failed to bag it, as it 
fell into the dense hedge, it being impossible to reach the 
spot where it fell, or search for it, on account of the 
thorns. The other birds disappeared and could not be 
found. 
“In 1885, in July, I saw a bunch of a half dozen of 
these same sparrows, on the Demopolis road, six miles 
southwest of Greensboro. 
“On July 28, this year, while I was riding, a mile and 
a half south of Greensboro, a large sparrow, with the 
white-edged tail, rose from the grass, and lighted on a 
