Il6 General Notes. 



within five or six feet. As I was without a gun, my onlv resort was a 

 stone ; and. much to my surprise, the bird stood, with parted bill and droop- 

 ing wings, inquisitively watching my movements, while I deliberately 

 threw the stone and knocked it over. This accidental acquisition thus 

 added a new bird — the Painted Lark Bunting — to the fauna of the Car- 

 olinas. — Lkverett M. Loomis, Chester. S. C. 



The Ipswich Sparrow (Passerculus ftrinceps) at Squam Beach, 

 New Jersey. — Mr. Gerard R. Hardenbergh secured on Nov. 16, 1880. a 

 female of this species which he sent to me with other birds. — W. E. D. 

 Scott. Princeton. New Jersey. 



Note on the Field Sparrow (Spizella pustlla). — On the morning 

 of the 8th of May. 1880. while gathering wild flowers on the banks of 

 a running brook in a meadow I found a nest of" the Field Sp&rrow(Spi'zella 



pusilla) containing four eggs. I had almost trodden upon the nest and 

 my first impression of its location was the fluttering at my feet of the 

 female bird as -lie left her charge at my too near approach. On the morn- 

 ing of' the I2th the nest contained six eggs and as one of them was much 

 warmer than the others 1 presumed it had just been laid. I visited the 

 nest frequently and on the morning of tin' 19th five birds were hatched 

 and the sixth egg chipped. Supposing the bird to have commenced setting 

 immediately after laying the last egg the period of incubation could not 

 have exceeded seven days — one hundred and sixty-eight hours. Con- 

 tinuing my visits at irregular intervals I noticed the rapidity of growth in 

 the nestlings. The nest was not large enough to contain them all : on the 

 24th one of the little birds was sitting just outside but close to the nest, 

 and on the afternoon of the 25th I found the nest empty. Reclining on 

 the grass awhile 1 soon heard a faint chirp somewhat resembling the noise 

 of young crickets, and in a lew seconds several of them, and as the parents 

 appeared with food tor the little ones a hurried fluttering from various 

 places within the space of a square rod revealed the presence of the family. 

 The next day the young birds could fly two or three rods at a time and 

 procure a portion of their food. Sixteen days from the commencement 

 of incubation the young seemed to be able to take care of themselves. 

 The adult birds appeared to become familiar in some degree with my visits 

 and exhibited less uneasiness towards the close than at the beginning, and 

 the male .occasionally sung his richly musical strain, which resembles a 

 combination of some of the notes of the Song Sparrow ( Melospiza mclodia) 

 and the Grass Finch {Pcecetes gramineus). 



The mean temperature of the air during incubation week — from May 

 12 to 19 — was 57. 6i 3 : the extremes. 46^ on the 14th and 88° on the 17th ; 

 rainfall, 0.21 inches on the 13th. The mean temperature from the 19th to 

 the 25th was6S.i4 :> ; the extremes. 52° on the 19th and 8S 3 on the 25th; 

 rainfall. 0.23 inches on the 23d. — Elisha Slade. Somerset. Mass. 



Bell's Finch {Poospiza belli nevadensis) in Xe-v Mexico. — I have 

 found Bell's Finch to he quite common in the vicinity of San Marcial. 



