274 BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES 



are able to conceal themselves in the short grass and 

 straggling bushes. 



Not a little attention was given to the western 

 savanna sparrows, whose songs have already been de- 

 scribed. Abundant proof was furnished that the breed- 

 ing season for these little birds was at its height, and I 

 determined to find a nest, if within the range of possi- 

 bility. An entire forenoon was spent in discovering 

 three nests. As you approach their domiciles, the 

 cocks, which are always on the alert, evidently give the 

 alarm to their sitting mates, which thereupon slip sur- 

 reptitiously from the nest ; and in that case how are 

 you going to ferret out their domestic secrets 't 



A female — I could distinguish her from her consort 

 by her conduct — was sitting on the post of a wire 

 fence, preening her feathers, which was sufficient evi- 

 dence that she had just come from brooding her eggs. 

 To watch her until she went back to her nest, then 

 make a bee-line for it — that was the plan I resolved to 

 pursue. It is an expedient that succeeds with many 

 birds, if the observer is very quiet and tactful. For a 

 long time I stood in the blazing sun with my eyes bent 

 on the little impostor. Back and forth, hither and yon, 

 she flew, now descending to the ground and creeping 

 slyly about in the grass, manifestly to induce me to ex- 

 amine the spot ; then back to the fence again, chirping 

 excitedly ; then down at another place, employing every 



