ENGLISH SPARROW 9 



became solid the depth was only 5 ; the inner diameter was 3 inches. 

 The nest was made chiefly of very long, coarse grass stems with the 

 heads still on, but it also contained some leaves, a few small feathers, 

 a small wad of cotton, several pieces of string, a piece of cloth, and a 

 piece of waxed chewing gum paper." 



Nests in other cavities vary greatly in size, the space, whether large 

 or small, being filled with the material. Nests in open situations in 

 trees are usually large, more or less globular in shape, with the entrance 

 on the side. 



William L. Finley (1907) published a photograph of a nest in an 

 unusual location, of which he says: "Down near the end of sparrow 

 row some hornets built a nest up under the projecting eaves of the 

 front porch of a cottage, just beside the bracket. I can understand 

 how a pair of sparrows will fight for a bird-box and drive other birds 

 away, but I never dreamed they would be envious of the hornets. 

 But a sparrow must have a place to nest. Whether the hornets left 

 voluntarily or with the aid of the sparrows I do not know, but the next 

 time I passed I found the birds in possession — actually making a home 

 in the hornet's nest. They had gone in through the bracket and pulled 

 out a large part of the comb, and were replacing it with grass and 

 feathers." 



Weaver (1939) observed that — 



Nest sites were chosen both before and after mating had occurred. If before, the 

 male selected the site and performed his courtship from there, but if afterward, the 

 female helped with or probably did most of the choosing. * * * 



"The variations in nest structure resulted mostly from the presence or absence 

 of certain nesting materials. The commonest form of nest was one with an outer 

 structure of coarse hay or dried weeds, and a lining of finer materials such as 

 feathers, cord, hair, and frayed rope. Hay and dried weeds were preferable to 

 straw. Feathers were preferred to other lining materials and the birds often 

 traveled several hundred yards to the chicken yards to obtain them. 



* * * "Coarse materials were brought to the site selected and layed down 

 rather loosely for a foundation. When a strong support was necessary many stiff 

 stems of hay or weeds were forced into small crevices around the sides and bottom 

 of the nest. As the bulk increased upwards, the female formed the cup by turning 

 round and round in the center. This movement caused the long strands to bend 

 into a *U' shape. The ends were, therefore, forced up along the sides and helped 

 to support the roof, which was added next. After the outer shell was constructed, 

 the lining was added." 



The English sparrow is an early and a late nester, as well as a 

 prolific breeder, raising several broods a year. Clarence Cottam (1929) 

 holds the record for an early nesting date in Utah. On January 1, 

 1929, a boy showed him a nest containing five naked young, recently 

 hatched. The temperature was near the zero point at the time and 

 went down to 14 below during the month. "During the first 18 days 

 one or both parents were almost constantly on the nest. During the 



