44 



THE OOLOGIST. 



in amateur collections. And, instead of 

 settling directly upon the nest, it alights on 

 the ground a short distance away and ap- 

 proaches it through the grass. In the sum- 

 mer of 1874, while crossing an orchard, a 

 Savannah Sparrow suddenly rose up from 

 the grass a dozen feet or so to the left, and 

 flew into an apple-tree a few yards distant. 

 At first, the supposition was that she had 

 a nest near by, but her unconcerned demean- 

 or dispelled this idea, and we were about 

 leaving the spot without taking further no- 

 tice of the circumstance, when, accidentally 

 looking down, the grass seemed to be slight- 

 ly parted in one place, which suggested a 

 search, and we were shortly rewarded by 

 finding the nest with four eggs, not more 

 than two or three yards from where the bird 

 rose. The bird still remained silently in 

 the tree, and had it not been for the chance 

 discovery of the exposed spot in the grass, 

 we should not have found the nest. 



The Yellow- winged Sparrow (^Cotur- 

 niculus passerim(s) prefers the rough, pas- 

 ture lands for nesting, differing considera- 

 bly in this respect from the preceding spe- 

 cies. The concealment aflx»rded by a this- 

 tle or weed and its attendant clump of grass, 

 a natural hollow in the ground, or even 

 sometimes the lower twigs of a bush, are 

 taken advantage of for nesting purposes. 

 It builds its house of straws, grasses, the 

 slender stems of the smaller weeds, and lines 

 it with the ordinary list of hairs, fibrous 

 roots, and occasionally pieces of grape-vine. 

 It is usually rather well concealed, but its 

 position is not at all difficult of discovery 

 under ordinary circumstances, for, if ap- 

 proached too near, the bird will suddenly 

 flutter off, sometimes with a twitter and 

 alight a short distance away. The eggs 

 are four or five in number, ovoidal, and 

 measure on the average, .76 by .60 inch. 

 The ground color is dull white, covered Avith 

 red splashes and spots, collected in many 

 specimens about the large end, and dimin- 

 ishing in size thence to the small end. (See 

 engraving.) Nidification is begun during 

 the first of May, and incubation follows in 

 eight or ten days. We once found a nest 



with three eggs of this bird and one of the 

 Cow Bird, late in the season, in a state of 

 decay ; the reason to be attributed to their 

 condition was probably the sacrifice of her 

 eggs by the Sparrow, to evade the develop- 

 ment of the foreign egg. The finding of 

 one nest of the Yellow-winged species in a 

 suitable locality is generally indicative of the 

 proximity of others, and in this respect it 

 partakes of the characteristic of the Grass 

 Finch, to which in many of its habits it 

 corresponds. 



Mk. D. D. Stone, in answer to a re- 

 cent article in this journal on methods of 

 obtaining eggs from trees, says: "Have 

 just read 'Methods of Climbing,' by Mr. 

 W. H. Ballou, and think it would be very 

 encumbering to lug through the woods all 

 the toggery connected with his climbing 

 outfit. For my part I am satisfied with a 

 GOOD jKilr of dimbhiy irons, which I can 

 use to good advantage." The views of 

 collectors in regard to this subject will prove 

 acceptable. 



Collectors would confer a favor by 

 sending us oological items, together with 

 notices of any peculiarities in nesting they 

 may have observed. This would add to 

 the interest of our oological columns, and 

 serve as a means of informing collectors up- 

 on the oology of different localities. Sketch- 

 es of rare eggs and nests, and oddities in 

 the same are desirable, and will if credita- 

 ble be given a place in our columns. 



Two illustrations of rare eggs will be 

 publislied in our next number. Do not fail 

 to obtain a copy. 



