90 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA 
could see the eggs through the straw as I stood behind 
it. The parent ran from the nest. I have yet to see one 
fly as other birds do when disturbed at incubation. They 
run; some showing great alarm for the safety of their 
little thatched domicile and its contents and expressing 
it by a sound resembling more the hissing of a snake 
than the scolding of a bird. If the intruder follows they 
continue to run till they have led him some distance 
from the nest and then they fly upon a tree and begin 
their ‘seep, seep,’ all the while accompanying these sounds 
with movements up and down, or jerking of the body like 
a wren. 
“These birds are terrestrial in their habits, though 
when flushed they often light in trees. Frequently they 
rise when disturbed suddenly, with an audible whir which 
distinguishes them from the field sparrow. 
“They sing at all hours of the day; but especially is 
their song striking and attractive after sunset, and when’ 
darkness begins to descend—a prelude of some sweet 
soul-stirring sounds and then a trill louder and more 
melodious than that of the field sparrow. This prelude 
is varied, and relieves the song of monotony; the little 
musician seems to endeavor to make himself as enter- 
taining as possible, by frequent change in the introduc- 
iory notes of his strain.” 
There follow a few more nesting records condensed 
from the Doctor’s note books: 
May 12, 1888. Greensboro. Nest on ground between 
two tufts of broom sedge; contained three young and 
one egg. 
June 29, 1888. Greensboro. Nest in an old field near 
a loblolly pine, on the edge of a portion of the primitive 
forest. Four eggs, incubation just begun. ‘Fayette 
Sheppard was ploughing when the parent bird flew from 
under the feet of his oxen. He thought the bird was a 
snake and struck several times at the place where he had 
seen it, ’till he discovered the nest.” 
May 16, 1889, the Doctor found a young Bachman’s 
sparrow that could just fly and a nest with four fresh 
eggs of the same species. 
