150 SPIZELLA PALLIDA, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW. 



wbat tlie habits of the Redpoll, feediug on the buds of the elm and 

 other trees in early spriu«-." 



It is sinjiular that the eggs of our SirizcUa' should differ so much 

 iimoug themselves, for the rule is that congeneric birds lay similar eggs. 

 Tlius, iS'. moniicola lays an t^gg like that of Melospiza ; the egg of iS'. pu- 

 •sitla is not distinguishable from that of Junco, except in size, and is 

 altogether different irom the clear green, blackish-dotted eggs of /S'. 

 social is and pallida. 



The Clay-colored Sparrow's nest abundantly in Dakota, and especially 

 idong the lied liiver, in the open, low underbrush by the river-side, and 

 among the innumerable scrub-willow copses of the valley. They pair 

 here the latter part of May, when the males come into full song; the 

 nests are built and the compleuient of eggs laid, usually by the middle 

 of June. During this month, while the females are incubating, the 

 males mount the tops of the bushes and sing continually — indeed I know 

 of no more assiduous and persistent songster than this little bird is, al- 

 though his vocal efforts are of an humble 'sort. His ditty is a simple 

 stave of three notes and a slight trill — nothing like the continuous song 

 of the Chip-bird. In places where the birds are plentiful, several males 

 may be in sight at once, each on his own bush-clump, while his mate is 

 nesting below. As soon as incubation is over, the habit is entirely 

 changed, and the males become as inconspicuous as their consorts. The 

 pairing season, during which the males may be seen continually chasing 

 the females about in the bushes, is of short duration ; and, prelimina- 

 ries adjusted, both birds set to work in earnest at their nest, with such 

 success that it is completed and the eggs laid in a week or two. Most 

 of my nests were taken during the first two weeks in June. In one case, 

 in which I visited a nest daily, I found that an egg was laid each day, 

 till the complement of four was tilled. 1 have not found more than four 

 eggs in a nest, and sometimes «nly three. They are of a light-green 

 color, rather scantily and sharply s])eckled with sienna and other rich 

 shades of brown — sometimes very dark brown. Generally the dotting 

 is chiefly confined to the larger end, with only a speck here and there 

 over the geneial surface ; the dots are sometimes in an area at the butt, 

 sometimes partially confluent and wreathed around it. The eggs meas- 

 ure about 0.G2 by 0.50. The nest is always placed low ; I never fouud 

 one so high as a yard from the ground, and generally took nests within 

 a few inches, in the crotch of a willow or other shrub, or in a tuft of 

 weeds. The nest is inartistically built of fine dried grass-stems and the 

 slenderer weed-stalks, with perhaps a few rootlets ; it is st>metimes lined 

 quite thickly with horse-hair, sometimes not, then having instead some 

 very fine grass-tops. It varies a good deal in size and shape, according 

 to its situation, but may average about three inches across by two deep, 

 with a cavity two inches wide by one and a half deep. In those cases 

 Avliere I api)roached the setting bird, she left the nest when I was a few 

 steps away, and fluttered directly into concealment, without attempting 

 any artifice or venturing to protest against the sjtoilation of her home. 



It is most probable that two broods may be reared, even in this high 

 latitude, but I cannot so assert, as I found no nests nor heard the nu[)- 

 tial songs after June. In July the birds appear in greater numbers than 

 ever, from the accession of the year's broods, and now go in little troops 

 in the shrubbery along with several other kinds of Sparrows. I found 

 them in all wooded and shrubby situations in Dakota, but never out on 

 the high i)rairie. Early in the fall, in Dakota, they are joined by num- 

 bers of Lincoln's, Gambel's, and Harris's Finches, all of which flutter 

 through the shrubbery together. They depart for the South early iu 



