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ABBoTT—LE CONTE’S SPARROW AT CHICAGO. 5 
LECONTE’S SPARROW AT HOME NEAR CHICAGO. 
BY GERARD ALAN ABBOTT. 
Leconte’s Sparrow has been regularly observed and re- 
corded from the Calumet region, around Chicago in April. 
From then unti! September most of the migratory sparrows 
are north of Illinois and Leconte’s has been classed only as 
a transient in this vicinity. Personally | neglect small birds in 
my zeal to follow and study the water fowl. Students gen- 
erally manifest a preference for the large birds, but as their 
experience afield becomes more scientific, insectivorous and 
seed-eating birds receive attention. 
On May 21, 1910, the afternoon was cool and rainy. I 
was searching for Bartramian Sandpipers along the grassy 
fields bordering a tributary of the Calumet River. The lo- 
cality was a favorite haunt for Henslow’s Sparrow, spring 
and summer. I heard several indistinct chirps as I moved 
slowly up the incline, carefully examining each clump of 
grass. One little bird was particularly demonstrative, and 
such a ventriloquist | did not catch a glimpse of him. 
When two hundred yards above the marsh, I stooped intu- 
itively and parted the vegetation, exposing in a little clump 
of coarse grass, a neat little nest supported on a mass of 
last year’s herbage two inches high. The structure was deep 
and composed entirely of fine, dry grass, very substantial for 
a “ Ground Bird’s Nest.” 
When I returned to this meadow four days later, the nest 
was more difficult to locate than before, as I had misjudged 
the distance of my land marks. Upland Plover and Meadow 
Lark both reluctantly exposed their eggs, while I explored 
tussock after tussock trying to locate the little Sparrow’s nest. 
Finally the sign loomed up before me and I was delighted to 
peer once more into the coveted clump and observe that the 
nest now contained two freshly laid eggs of Leconte’s Spar- 
row. 
May 28, 1910, I collected the set. The bird flew from the 
