82 General Notes. [^^^ 



{^Hcsperipliona vespertina). The Grosbeak was in the open near one or 

 more buildings. I saw it close enough to be sure of the identification. It 

 was a striking looking bird and could have been nothing else. Assuming 

 it was the same individual all the time, it was very loath to leave the 

 vicinity. I thought it had left, and departed myself, but came back later 

 and found it again. I shot at it several times, but unfortunately did not 

 secure it. The white wing patches were perhaps its most striking feature. 

 It called (whistled) a great deal. — John Treadwell Nichols, Cambridge^ 

 Mass. 



The Evening Grosbeak in Presque Isle Co., Mich. — Mr. O. S. Bui-ton 

 of Millersburg, Presque Isle County, Mich., informs me that the Evening 

 Grosbeak {Hesperiphotia vesperiina) has put in an appearan-ce in consid- 

 erable numbers in his vicinity. These feed on the berries of the mountain 

 ash. It has been a number of years since this species has been reported to. 

 me in the Lower Peninsular except an occasional bird. — Bradshaw H. 

 Swales, Detroit, Mich. 



The Bachman Sparrow {Peuccea cestivalis backmanii) in the Vicinity of 

 Cincinnati, Ohio. — On April 25, 1901, as I strolled about Rose Hill — a 

 lately plotted subdivision of Avondale, Cincinnati, Ohio, and a region 

 favored by the birds from primeval times — I heard a song from a spar- 

 row, very sweet and unlike the songs of familiar resident or migrant spar- 

 rows. In the approaching dusk of evening it seemed to resemble a Field 

 Sparrow in size and general coloring, as the bird flitted along from one 

 low point to another, finally dropping into a bramble patch where the 

 dimming light made it useless to follow. 



On April 27, 1901, at a place three to four miles from Rose Hill — also 

 a high, lightly wooded pasture, called Groesbeck Hill — a number of spar- 

 rows were singing similar songs to that heard on April 21. We were able 

 to approach and examine several from close range as they sat singing 

 most varied strains — never twice alike in opening, general composition, 

 nor close of song, yet each repetition equally attractive. After careful 

 observations with an opera glass, I felt reasonably certain of the Bachman 

 Sparrow, heretofore on the hypothetical list for Ohio. It is one of the 

 dullest and most inconspicuously plumaged of the ' sparrowy ' arrayed 

 sparrows. 



On May 3, 1901, I visited the vicinity of Rose Hill again and did not 

 fail to hear and see the Bachman in song. The opening notes of their 

 songs are frequently exquisite, indrawn strains, of the quality of the 

 Chickadee's daintiest ///ei^e whistle, followed by a lower-pitched trill with 

 perhaps several Goldfinch-like notes introduced. The whole is superior 

 in quality, variations and a certain plaintive cadence to any sparrow song 

 I know. 



The birds are quiet and with an almost passive manner. If undis- 

 turbed, they perch for a comparatively long interval on the same spot 



