324 LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



in concluding, that, however suitable our friend's 

 building was for the purposes of nidification, for 

 we are convinced that the sparrows like our com- 

 mon Troglodytes ccdon, are not at all fastidious in 

 the selection of a place, its abandonment was due 

 solely to the conflicting natures of the parties 

 which sought to possess it. 



The eggs of this sparrow are oval, pointed at 

 one end, and blotched, streaked, and dotted with 

 divers shades of cinereous brown upon a light 

 ashen back-ground. The average length is .91 of 

 an inch and average breadth .62. 



o 



Passerclla iliaca, Swainson. 



The Fox-colored Sparrow though not a winter 

 denizen with us, is quite an early spring visitant. 

 Its presence has been observed as early as the 

 1 8th of March. Though usually a somewhat re- 

 tired cpecies, occupying during its temporary stay, 

 open fields, waste grounds, and the boundaries of 

 thickets, yet it is not necessarily so. In small 

 numbers it visits our yards and gardens in com- 

 pany with Melospiza nielodia, Spizella vionticola, 

 and Jnnco hyemalis t for the crumbs and scraps 

 which have been cast away, and the broken corn, 

 wheat-screenings, and broom-seed, which have 

 been fed to the chickens. It now becomes very 

 tame and is readily approachable. When the 

 ground is covered with snow, which is often the 

 case at the time of its return, its presence is more 

 frequently observed, being, doubtless, drawn to 



