256 General Notes. [^JjJ 



Procuring a long piece of white string the}' carried one end well into the 

 body of the nest and twined it around several sticks. Thence it was 

 carried out like a guv rope to a nail that chanced to have been only half 

 driven home, about six inches beyond the outer rim. Two turns were 

 taken about the nail and the string then passed back to the nest and firmly 

 interlaced with the twigs. The nest was then completed. 



The string thus attached protected the nest from pitching forward — 

 though the wind rocked it continually — while the wall protected itbehind. 



The work was not so deftly done as not to betray the novice in the 

 weaving art, and a yearling Oriole might have smiled at the crude effort 

 to steal its trade by its thick-billed relative. However, the evident pur- 

 pose of Carpodacns was to tie down its nest so that it would stay, and 

 appearances were but a secondary consideration. That the nest was 

 securely anchored was evidenced by the fact that it contained five eggs 

 upon which the female was peacefully setting quite regardless of the fact 

 that it was within three feet of the head of every passer by. — II. W. 

 HENSHAW, Witch Creek, San Diego Co., Cal. 



Leconte's Sparrow {Ammodramns leconfeii) in large numbers near 

 Charleston, South Carolina. — Since the capture of this bird on January 

 26, 1SS6, and again on February 9, iSSS, I have failed to detect the presence 

 of tins erratic Sparrow until December 6, 1S93, when I shot an example in 

 fall moult near Mount Pleasant. The next day I secured six specimens 

 which were all in different stages of moulting. The moult was a slow- 

 one and it was not completed until January 15. 



From December 6, 1893, to January 24, 1S94, I secured forty individuals 

 and could have obtained many more if I had had more time. They were 

 to be found directly on the coast in 'broom grass' fields, which were quite 

 boggy owing to long spells of rainy weather. The majority were shot on 

 wing, but several were shot from the tops of live oak trees where thev 

 sought refuge after being repeatedly flushed from the ground. From the 

 whole series only seven males were taken, the remainder being females. — 

 Arthur T. Wayne, Mount Pleasant, S. C. 



Taming a Chipping Sparrow (SfiizcIIa socialis). — In the spring of 1891 

 a Chipping Sparrow built its nest in a honeysuckle vine which covers a 

 stairway and balcony to my studio. It was begun while I was absent 

 from home for a few days, and was on the railing just at the head of the 

 stairs. I therefore avoided the balcony as much as possible until one egg 

 was laid, using an inside entrance from the house. 



I then began the experiment of taming the birds, standing for long 

 periods in the doorway until the mother bird would at last go back and 

 forth quite freely to the nest, and would sit upon it while I was there, at 

 a distance of perhaps four feet. 



Soon I tried sitting upon the top steps of the narrow stairs, which 

 brought my head on a level with the nest, and it was not long before she 

 also tolerated my presence there. I was so near that we sat and looked 

 into each other's eyes. 



