The Fox Sparrow in Central Park, New York City, in August.— 
On the afternoon of August 9, with the temperature at 85°, I was in Cen- 
tral Park looking for early migrating warblers. As I was going along a 
path bordered by rhododendron shrubbery, I noticed a fair-sized bird 
hopping along the edge of the path a few yards in front of me, scratching in 
the dead leaves for food. A long look through binoculars proved it to be a 
Fox Sparrow ( Passerella iliaca iliaca) with somewhat worn plumage, al- 
though the coloring was very rich. The bird appeared thoroughly misera- 
ble and was obviously suffering from the heat. So listless was it, that 
rather than move away, it permitted a very near approach, finally taking 
wing with a feeble “ cheep.” This effort seemed to exhaust what little 
energy it had left, as I found it sulking at the base of a bush, and it actually 
permitted me to part the upper branches of the bush and peer down at it 
with my face not more than five feet away. I stared at it some time before 
it finally moved off once more, and I followed it about for some ten minutes 
longer, in no case being far enough away to use binoculars. I cannot say 
whether it was a ‘ left over ’ from the last season or a migrant. The Fox 
Sparrow does not arrive in Central Park much before October 15 as a rule. 
The bird was not seen again, though I was in that part of the Park almost 
every day until the emi of August. — Lunpow Griscom, New York City. 
mSs. rt. /ox.. 
