116 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Sept. 



pairs of birds than one would expect if the breeding season 

 were in progress. We also found one pair in the act of building. 



The nest which we found was prepared exactly as stated 

 bv Mr. PeabodV in the Auk, namely, in long grass partly fallen 

 over, not placed on the ground, but three or four inches above 

 it, supported mostly by dead grass. This differs widely from 

 published reports, some of which are quoted below. 



The nest was built of grass exclusively, the inner being, of 

 course, finer. The five eggs which it contained varied in size 

 from .69 x .5 to .7 x .54 and are strikingly different from eggs 

 of the Savanna and Song Sparrow type, resembling rather 

 some sets of Field Sparrow but larger. The ground colour is 

 pure white and the spots a very light reddish-brown in a rather 

 heavy wreath near the large end. The rest of the egg is almost 

 unmarked. 



The bird flushed from the nest when we were about five feet 

 on each side of her, and the nest was found without difficulty, 

 but, in other parts of the large field where the birds were, we 

 would probablv have had trouble in finding one even if the bird 

 had been flushed as the grasses were so heavily matted. 



The field contained perhaps 75 acres and had grown up to 

 wild grass entirely. A small part only had been ploughed in 

 some earlier year, but had not been harrowed, and the rest was 

 apparently in its original condition. I should judge that the 

 grass would grow to a height of three feet and the birds nest, 

 as stated, in the matted dry grass of the previous year's growth. 

 Most of the field was burnt off since last summer, and conse- 

 quently our search was confined to the comparatively small 

 portion which the fire had left untouched. The ground is only 

 slic^htly raised above the Lake level and has doubtless become 

 dry since the construction of a ditch and dyke nearby. 



In Baird, Brewer and Ridgway's "Birds of North America," 

 it is stated that the nest is placed "on the ground in a depression 

 or apparently an excavation scratched out by the bird itself. 

 The nest is a'well made structure." 



Davies' "Nests and Eggs of North American Birds," states 

 that the nest is placed on the ground, sometimes in a slight de- 

 pression, beneath a tussock made of grasses and a few cow hairs. 



In the Nidologist, Vol. 1, p. 180, L. W. Watkins describes 

 the taking of a nest similar to ours, about 4 inches above the 

 ground in a tuft of grass. 



From these notes it will be seen that the position of the 

 nest is variable. 



The Short-billed Marsh Wren inhabits similar ground to 

 Henslow Sparrow, although I have ne\'er as yet found them 



