SUMMER BIRDS OF SHAW's GARDEN. 63 



Song Sparrow remained to breed in St. Louis, but in 1907 

 and 1908 one pair made its summer home in Shaw's Garden, 

 and the fine song of the male greeted the visitor almost as 

 soon as he entered. Most birds are in the habit of mounting 

 a prominent perch for the delivery of their song, and our new 

 friend often chose the head of the statue of Juno in the sunken 

 garden, from where he could be heard all over the most fre- 

 quented part of the Garden, The dense hedges in grandma's 

 garden afforded a safe retreat and hiding place at all times, 

 probably also for its nest. 



Large numbers of Song Sparrows come to us from the north 

 in October, stay a few weeks and pass on southward; a small 

 number remains with us all winter, chiefly in river and creek 

 bottoms, where rank vegetation offers shelter and food. In 

 early spring the great mass passes again through Missouri on 

 their way to their breeding grounds in the northern states 

 and Canada, but as breeders Song Sparrows were formerly 

 considered rare even in southern Iowa. It is only in the last 

 decade that it has become evident that the species is slowly 

 extending its breeding range southward. When ten years 

 ago the writer found a pair nesting at Maple Lake, St. Charles 

 Co., Mo., he considered that the most southern locality. Since 

 then he has met with the species twice in the northern part 

 of St. Louis, and lately even as far south as St. Genevieve. 

 Its occurrence in summer in the Garden is therefore of more 

 than ordinary interest and its reappearance in future seasons 

 to be anticipated with pleasure. 



TowHEE. Pipilo erythrophthalmus. 



Nearly of the size of a robin, this stately aristocrat among 

 the ground sparrows catches the eye of even the most uninter- 

 ested visitors of the Garden by the showy juxtaposition of 

 its colors, the deep black of head, neck and back, the clear 

 chestnut of the sides and the pure white of breast and belly. 

 Its abrupt and startling note "towhee," with which the male 

 generally introduces himself, is not less striking than his ap- 

 pearance ; it is heard at all times during his stay with us from 

 early in March till the end of October, and betrays his pros- 



