414 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 92 



by the bird's saliva and fastened to tbe wood by the same material. 

 Within the nest were four callow young, about half grown. This 

 was on July 20. The nest was about fourteen feet from the ground. 



So unique a discovery afforded us rare pleasure. Such exper- 

 iences far more than compensate one for any iucidental^iscom- 

 forts of such a trip. 



Manley B. Townsend. 



Nashua, N. H. 



BACHMAN'S SPARROW AT CHICAGO. 



Bachman's Sparrow {Peuctea cestivalis l)achmam) is, like the 

 Chewink, Cardinal, Carolina Wren and several others, a species 

 that is gradually from year to year extending its breeding range 

 northward. The largest jump in this extension, if not in fact, at 

 least in record, is to be chronicled from this neighborhood. The 

 exact locality where it turned up here is " Waller's Park," in the 

 northern part of the village of River Forest, which is described 

 more in detail elsewhere in the " Bulletin." Our post office is Oak 

 Park, that better known suburb of Chicago ; hence, when speaking 

 to strangers our place of residence is Oak Park, the better known 

 of the two; but to such somewhat familiar with local conditions, 

 we say River Forest. Wliile looking for warblers and other mi- 

 grants in this charming spot on May 9th last I suddenly heard a 

 loud, melodious song in the southern part of the park, where there 

 are many larger oaks. It seemed new, and yet it struck a respon- 

 sive chord in the memory. At first I wanted to dismiss it with the 

 thought, as I had done several years previously in Edwards County, 

 southern Illinois, that it was an unusual loud and melodious Field 

 Sparrow or an unusually musical Chewink singing. Then memory 

 seemed to make an unconsciously stronger effort and I said to my- 

 self, that is none other than Bachman's Sparrow. Now for the veri- 

 fying ! Glass in hand I sneaked to the place whence" the sound 

 came, and I saw that there were about ten individuals of what were 

 undoubtedly a species of sparrow, but unlike any we have here as 

 migrants or summer residents. They acted as though very much 

 at home and enjoying the place ; they were mostly on the grass- 

 covered ground, feeding, but as if moved by an Irresistible exuber- 

 ance of spirit they would in turn, first one, then another, mount 

 up into the lowest branches of the trees and sing their song, then 

 descend again. Nor did they seem wary or afraid, and this gave me 

 an opportunity to watch them at close quarters. They were a 

 chubby sort of a finch, of about the size of the Song Sparrow, with 

 decided reddish brown upper parts and a suffusion of yellowish or 

 buff on the unstreaked underparts. Bill and feet were also pinkish, 



