^^2 Bendire, ^/le Nest (uid Eggs of B'ichman''s Sfarro-v. [October 



eastern Concho County. Nests found May 20 to June i. Eggs 

 invariably four." This is the only reference to the nest and eggs 

 of this form known to me, and is rather vague. 



Through the kindness of Dr. Wm. C. Avery of Greensboro, 

 Alabama, an enthusiastic naturalist, who has devoted consider- 

 able labor and no little time to the study of the nesting habits of 

 this species, I am enabled to give what I consider the first reli- 

 able and accurate descriptions of the nest and eggs of Bachman's 

 Sparrow. In addition to not less than five nests and several full 

 sets of eggs, adult birds, and young of the year, all generously 

 presented to the National Museum collection at Washington, 

 D. C, Doctor Avery has sent the writer small pen and ink 

 sketches of several of the nests and a beautifully executed crayon 

 drawing, natural size, by Miss M. Erwin, which shows the pecu- 

 liar and unique structure and shape of these nests as far as this 

 genus is concerned, perfectly, and enables me to give a better 

 pen picture of them than I could have done otherwise. Greens- 

 boro, Alabama, is situated in the central part of the State, about 

 140 miles north of Mobile. 



All the nests of this bird vary totally in structure from those 

 of the other species of the genus Peuccea., as far as known to me. 

 They are all distinctly roofed over or domed, a feature only 

 found in the nest of a closely allied species, Einbernagra rufi- 

 virgata, the Texas Sparrow, which constructs a somewhat sim- 

 ilar nest. They are cylindrical in shape, about seven or eight 

 inches long by three inches in height, and four and one half 

 inches wide. The inner cavity is from three to four inches in 

 length, about two inches wide, and one and three quarters inches 

 high. The rear wall of the nest is about one and three quarters 

 inches thick, the sides about an inch, and the roof a little over 

 half an inch in thickness. These measurements vary somewhat 

 in different specimens. The nests are all constructed out of dry 

 grasses exclusively, and are lined with fine grass tops only. 

 Some are much more artistically and compactly built than others ; 

 the roof projects somewhat over the entrance in all cases. The 

 measurements are taken from the best preserved nest, No. 23,611, 

 National Museum Collection, obtained May 8, 1888, near Greens- 

 boro, Alabama, containing four nearly fresh eggs. The base of 

 the nest is always placed in a slight depression of the ground, 

 and the entrance is invariably canted ujiwards, at an angle of 



