Vol i906 in ] Williams, Birds of Leon County, Fla. 155 



Agelaius phoeniceus. Red-winged Blackbird. — I stated in my for- 

 mer article that the males of this species assume the female plumage in 

 winter. In his notice of the article in 'Bird-Lore' for November-Decem- 

 ber, 1904, Dr. Dwight very gracefully suggests the error of this assertion 

 and says: "He has evidently mistaken the young males for the females 

 and not seen the black adults with the red shoulder-patches. This raises 

 the question, Where have the adults betaken themselves? for they are cer- 

 tainly conspicuous enough not to escape notice." I freely acknowledge 

 the mistake and hope to be able to answer the question some time in the 

 future. The fact is, however, that the birds wintering with us have no 

 shoulder-patch. 



Sturnella magna argutula. Southern Meadowlark. — The Leon 

 County meadowlarks must be referred to this subspecies. The difference 

 in size between the birds found here and those taken in Maryland is very 

 marked, the latter being, of course, the larger. 



Astragalinus tristis. American Goldfinch. — First seen in fall of 1904, 

 Nov. 17. I was not afield the ten days prior to this date and they may 

 have arrived a few days prior thereto. 



Pooecetes gramineus. Vesper Sparrow. — First seen in fall of 1904, 

 Oct. 13. They were rather common, and as I walked through McDougall's 

 pasture in the dim light of early morning they arose from the short tufts of 

 grass on all sides and scurried away to an apparently safe distance, inces- 

 santly uttering their faint monosyllabic chip. 



Passerculus sandwichensis savanna. Savanna Sparrow. — For the 

 first time I am now able to give some accurate information respecting this 

 bird in the county. On the morning of Oct. 6, 1904, while walking through 

 the pasture, I flushed several from the short tufts of grass but was unable 

 to procure a specimen. I was more fortunate that evening, when, just be- 

 fore nightfall I took a chance shot at one, a female, that flushed some dis- 

 tance away and lit within range of my ' aux.' This date marks the first fall 

 appearance of the bird in the county in 1904. At all events it is my first 

 record, and I was in the field almost daily prior thereto. From this date 

 till Oct. 28 they were fairly common, after which the numbers diminished 

 perceptibly. As I met with the bird during January and February I con- 

 clude that it must be a winter resident in limited numbers. 



Spizella pusilla. Field Sparrow. — It gives me great pleasure to here 

 record the species as a nesting bird in the county, although Mr. Wayne has 

 heretofore mentioned it as a nesting species in the adjoining county of Jef- 

 ferson. On Dec. 10, 1904, I was shooting partridges (Colinus) in a large 

 broomsedge field four miles from town. Everywhere were tangled masses 

 of blackberry vines. The covey was nicely scattered, the birds rising 

 singly. I had three on the ground and concluded to pick them up before 

 flushing another. As I stooped to recover the first, my attention was sud- 

 denly arrested by a well preserved nest, which struck me instantly as that 

 of a sparrow. I temporarily forgot the partridge in my zeal to identify 

 the nest. Carefully removing it from its thorny surroundings, I safely 



