Vol. XVIII 

 1901 



J Peabody, Nesting Habits of Lecontea Sparrow. I "^ I 



from this patch at ahiiost any time of day. Few observers can bt 

 aware of how persistent is this sparrow in its well-known skulking 

 habit. Repeatedly when driving through these meadow spots, in 

 search for nests, I have caught a glimpse of a Leconte fairly under 

 my buggy wheels; and on dismounting and making a careful 

 search with my hands, have caught perhaps a second sight of the 

 fearless bird only four or five feet away without flushing it. I 

 have never found any indication that this incessant skulking has 

 any exclusive connection with the nesting season. It is this 

 habit which makes the bird so difficult to secure. If one should 

 discover a Leconte's Sparrow perching, as above described, and 

 see him instantly dive into the grass, one must run with all speed 

 to the spot if he wishes to see the bird again. Its flight when 

 flushed is, in the main, short, fitful, and undulating, having char- 

 acteristics of its own, yet somewhat resembling the flight of the 

 Short-billed Marsh Wren, of whose societv Leconte's Sparrow 

 seems to be fairly fond. 



There seems a wide range as to the date when nest-building 

 begins, as will appear from the following list of nests found. 



1. June 5, three eggs, one of Cow-bird; incubation advanced. 



2. May 30, iive eggs ; incubation none. 



3. May 31, four eggs; incubation begun. 



4. May 31, five eggs ; incubation none. 



5. June 3, three eggs, and one of Cowbird; incubation, trace. 



6. June 3, five eggs; incubation, trace. 



7. 'May 29-June 5, five eggs; incubation four days. 



8. June 5, one egg^i one of Cowbird; soon deserted. 



9. June 5, five eggs ; incubation nearly completed. 



10. June 9, four young, just hatched; one e^gg hatching. 



11. July 6, two dead eggs, one half-grown Cowbird. 



12. June 5, nest recently deserted; shells of fresh eggs. 



13. June 5, one egg, fresh; nest deserted. 



14. June 5, a nest of the previous year, found while investigating a pair 

 of birds that surely had a nest within a few feet. Female apparently 

 sitting. 



I should add, regarding nest 5, that the nest was left for photo- 

 graphing on June 23, and that when the nest was taken, July 9, 

 it contained a Cowbird's egg. This, and a previous finding 

 connected with a Towhee's nest, containing three eggs by the 



