1 1 6 
General Notes. 
within five or six feet. As I was without a gun, my only 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. — Leverett M. Loomis, Chester , A. C. 
The Ipswich Sparrow ( Passerculus princess') 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 pusilla). — 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 Sparrow (Spizella 
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 she left, her charge at my too near approach. On the morn- 
ing of the 12th the nest contained six eggs and as one of them was much 
warmer than the others I presumed it had just been laid.* I visited the 
nest frequently and on the morning of the 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 I soon heard a faint chirp somewhat resembling the noise 
of young crickets, and in a few seconds several of them, and as the parents 
appeared with food for 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 inelodia ) 
and the Grass Finch (Pcecetes gramineus'). 
The mean temperature of the air during incubation week — from May 
12 to 19 — was 57,61°; 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 was 6S.i4°; the extremes, 52° on the 19th and 88° on the 25th; 
rainfall, 0.23 inches on the 23d. — Elisha Slade, Somerset , Mass. 
Bell’s Finch ( Poospiza belli nevadensis) in New ■ Mexico. — I have 
found Bell’s Finch to be quite common in the vicinity of San Marcial, 
