522 Eifrig, Birds of the Chicago Area. [q^ 



places in the proper season, but Addison, where ] first made their acquaint- 

 ance, continues to be the paradise for them that I called it in an article in 

 ' The Auk,' Vol. XXX, p. 238. To the bare, wind-swept fields around the 

 old windmill they still come by the hundred or thousand every season. 

 April 8, 1916, we found them there in great numbers, and on a day evi- 

 dently to their liking. It was 33°, dark, and a strong northerly gale was 

 blowing so hard as to make walking and seeing difficult. Yet in spite of 

 that, or probably because of it, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, 

 chasing each other and singing in a general frolic. Many males -were in 

 nearly their full nuptial dress. ] n'specimens taken at this time of the year 

 Mr. Stoddard and I have repeatedly found numbers of pinfeathers on head 

 and neck, which would indicate that this acquisition of the nuptial coloring 

 is not entirely due to abrasion, but wholly or in part to moulting. It has, 

 after much observation of them, always seemed strange to me that the 

 high colors of their nuptial plumage should by abrasion appear so suddenly 

 and so symmetrically. These pinfeathers show that it is not due to 

 abrasion only, if at all. 



Passerherbulus h. henslowi. Henslow's Sparrow. — Given its ' 

 weedy pastures, preferably with water near by, this queer Sparrow may 

 be met with in all parts of this region. It is most common in the large 

 swale at Mineral Springs, where the Marsh Hawk is found in numbers. 



Passerherbulus lecontei. Leconte's Sparrow. — A rare migrant and 

 still rarer breeder. Stoddard took one October 10, 1916, and Mr. E. R. 

 Ford found a nest, as probably reported elsewhere. 



Passerherbulus n. nelsoni. Nelson's Sparrow. — Since the taking 

 of two specimens at Addison, August 31, 1910, and September 16, 1911, 

 previously reported, I have found no more. 



Spizella p. passerina. Chipping Sparrow. — Another species 

 strangely rare here. As a breeder it is almost absent. The last two or 

 three years, however, a pair or two bred near my house; last year a nest 

 was in an Austrian pine on my lawn, five feet up, where the incubating 

 female almost allowed one to touch her. 



Junco h. hyemalis. Slate-colored Junco. — In the exceptionally 

 cold spring of 1917 members of this species were seen unusually late. I 

 saw several May 11, and Dr. A. Lewy, a member of the Chicago Orni- 

 thological Society, as late as the 13th and 19th, in Jackson Park, whereas, 

 ordinarily, the last are seen during the last week in April. 



Peucaea aestivalis bachmani. Bachman's Sparrow. — Since their 

 appearance here in River Forest, May 9, 1915, when I saw them till July 1, 

 I have seen no more. Dr. A. Lewy, however, saw one in Jackson Park, 

 June, 1918. 



Spiza americana. Dickcissel. — This species seems to be yearly 

 getting rarer or more erratic or both. 1 n 1916 and 1917 I saw only two pair 

 in each year, and these near my home, in clover fields. In the former year 

 they came June 9, in the latter, June 19. In 1918 I saw none. 



Petrochelidon 1. lunifrons. Cliff Swallow. — This species seems 



