Field Sparrow.—' The first nests of this 
bird will be found in old fields or by the 
roadsides in tufts of dry grass, some- 
times in low cedars not over one or two 
feet from the ground. As vegetation 
commences, they build in blackberry 
bushes or other deciduous shrubs above 
the level of the ground. 
Note on the Field Sparrow (Spizella jmsilla). — 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 Spavrow{Sprzella 
fusilla) containing four eggs. I had almost trodden upon the nest and 
mv 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 melodia) 
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 68. 14°; the extremes, 52° on the 19th and 88° on the 25th; 
l-ainfall, 0.23 inches on the 23d. — Elisha Slade, Somerset, Mass. 
BnllN.O.C. 0, April, 1881, P, //6 
Nesting of the Field Sparrow at 
Raleigh, N. C. in 1888. 
BY O. S. BRIMEEY. 
These birds began laying May 7 th, and a nest 
with about half incubated eggs was found Aug. 
2nd, this however, is not surprising as I found 
my last nest last year on Aug 26 th, being the 
latest date 1 have ever found birds eggs in this 
bcality. 
The nests were built of grass, or weed stems 
suallv lined with horsehair and usually placed 
1 small bushes or weed tussacks, two-thirds of 
le number being from one inch to one foot 
,'om the ground, the remaining third being' 
rom eighteen inches to live feet in height, 
he favorite situation seems to be on sloping 
illsides in small thorn bushes, but the birds 
re not particular, being abundant everywhere 
1 this locality. The set complement was al- 
ost invariably four in the early part of the 
ason, though even then some nests only con- 
ined three; but towards the end of the season 
hen the second or third layings were in pro- 
cess, the set was more usually three than four. 
O. XIII, Sept. 188 8 P- ’.411 
Id Nesting Site of a Field Sparrow. 
BY J. P. NORRIS, JR- 
In June 30 th, 1880 , I found a nest of the 
?ld Sparrow ( Spizella pusilla ) in Chester 
unty, Pennsylvania, in a Hawthorn hedge, 
;ht feet from the ground. 
The nest and eggs (three in number) were in 
respect remarkable, but what caused the 
■ds to build in such a high situation is a 
•stery. 
O &Q. XIII. Dec. 1888 p.189 
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4 . Spizella pusilla. Field Sparrow. A nest 
containing a set of four eggs of the Sparrow 
and one egg of the Cowbird found in June. 
Remarkable Eggs of the Field Spar- 
row. 
BY J. P. N. 
During the past season I received a large and 
beautiful series of sets of eggs of the Field 
Sparrow {Spizella pusilla) from North Carolina. 
One of the sets contains an egg which is so 
large that it seems worthy of having its size 
placed on record. It measures .79 x . 55 , and in 
shape and coloration is an exact counterpart of 
the two other eggs comprising the set, which 
are of normal size (.68 x . 61 .) 
And in this connection it may be said that 
unless one has seen a large series of eggs of 
this species it is difficult to imagine how great 
their variation is in size, shape and coloration. 
O &Q. XIII. Nov. 1888 p.164 
O.&O. XTV„Sept. 1889 p 133 
55 
