BACHMAN'S SPARROW. 149 



"The male always sings from an elevated perch, usually a dead twig close to the 

 trunk of a southern pine. He sits perfectly motionless and is unaccountably hard to 

 see. I have often stood directly beneath one for several minutes, vainly straining my 

 eyes in the direction from whence the sound came, and perhaps finally discovered him 

 within ten feet of my head in plain view. The ventriloquous character of many of his 

 notes increases this difficulty. If disturbed in the midst of his song, he pitches to the 

 ground beneath and at once seeks shelter in the grass." 



Prof. Robert Ridgway detected the bird in southern Illinois, where it is known as 

 the Oak-woods Sparrow^. It is a summer resident there and breeding, but is not com- 

 mon. It inhabits old fields, where, perched upon a fence-stake or an old dead tree; it is 

 described as chanting a very delightful song. He first observed the bird on July 12, 

 1871, on a road about half-way between Mount Carmel and Olney. The bird was then 

 seen on a fence, and its unfamiliar appearance and fine song at once attracted Mr. Ridg- 

 w^ay's attention as he was riding by. He speaks of its song as one of the finest he has 

 ever heard, resembling most the sweet chant of the Field Sparrow, but is stronger, and 

 varied by a clear, high, and very musical strain. Mr. Ridgway describes the song as 

 resembling the syllables theeeeeSe-til-lat-lat-lat, the first being a very fine trill pitched 

 in a very high musical key, the last syllable abrupt and metallic in tone. 



Of the nesting of Bachman's Sparrow Major Charles E. Bendire gives the following 

 excellent account: 



"Through the kindness of Dr. Wm. C. Avery of Greensboro, Alabama, an en- 

 thusiastic naturalist, who has devoted considerable 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 

 reliable 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, Dr. 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 peculiar 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. Greensboro, 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 Peucsea, 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, Bmbernagra. ruH- 

 virgata, the Texas Sparrow, which constructs a somewhat similar nest. They are 



cylindrical in shape, and all are 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 measure- 

 ments are taken from the best preserved nest, obtained May 8, 1888, near Greensboro, 



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 upwards, at an 

 angle of about 15°, in some instances the elevation is greater still. The entrance to the 

 majority of the nests found faced the west. The above-mentioned nest was found on 



