730 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 2 



After the second broods leave the nest, grasshopper sparrows no 

 longer defend territorial boundaries, although adults and young 

 remain in the general vicinity until they disappear in the fall. 



Courtship. — Within 10 to 14 days after their arrival, the males 

 introduce the sustained song (see Voice) , which for a short time almost 

 replaces the grasshopper song and signifies that courtship is at its 

 height. Most courtship activity is hidden in the grass, but occa- 

 sionally a male rises above it on quivering wings, delivers this song in 

 a low fluttering flight, and then drops out of sight again. The female 

 may answer this song with a trill of her own (see Voice), which she 

 often sings alone. The male responds by singing the sustained song 

 or by flying to her. At times the male pursues the female and sings 

 the sustained song as he gives chase. 



W. H. Nicholson writes that the male Florida grasshopper sparrow 

 "has a fluttering mating flight similar to that of the seaside sparrow 

 except that it is low, 3 to 5 feet above the ground for 50 to 100 feet; 

 upon alighting on a twig or saw palmetto it bursts into song." 



Nesting. — Nests of the grasshopper sparrow are extremely hard to 

 find. Dm'ing the course of my study I was able to locate only four. 

 All were hidden at the base of clumps of grass, alfalfa, clover, dead 

 vegetation, or other cover, and often had one or two paths leading to 

 the entrance. The nest itself is built of stems and blades of grass and 

 lined with fine grass and rootlets, occasionally with horsehair (Burleigh, 

 1923; Simmons, 1925; Trautman, 1940). Sunk in a slight depression, 

 the rim is level with or slightly above the surface of the ground. 

 The top is usually arched or domed at the back, giving it an ovenlike 

 appearance. Nest measurements range as follows: outside, 4.50 to 

 5.50 inches; height, 2 to 2.25 inches; inside, 2.50 or 3 by 3.25 inches; 

 inside depth, 1.25 to 1.30 inches (Simmons, 1925; Dixon, 1916). 



W. H. Nicholson (1936) describes the nest of the Florida grasshopper 

 sparrow as follows: "Many of the nests were a single dead palmetto 

 leaf without any other vegetation to conceal them; others were under 

 dead drooping palmetto leaves with small dwarf oaks and wire grass 

 growing on all sides, while several others were in thin tussocks of 

 dead wire grass which looked too small to hide the bird, much less the 

 nest." Nests were "lined with fine wire grass and arched over with 

 grass blades." 



Nest-building of the eastern and western grasshopper sparrows 

 reaches its height in late May. This is followed by a second nest- 

 building period in very late June and early July. D.J. Nicholson writes 

 that the nesting of the Florida grasshopper sparrow begins "about the 

 middle of April to the first week in May; second nestings are begun 

 about the first of June; and again in July they breed a third time." 



