800 U.S. NATIONAL ]VrQSEUM BULLETIN 237 tart 2 



Nesting. — The nest of the sharp-tailed sparrow is one of the most 

 difficult to discover. Yet, William Brewster (MS.) found no less than 

 seven in one day, June 19, 1890, at Revere, Mass.: "All seven nests 

 were similar in composition but they varied widely in position and 

 surroundings. Two were placed squarely on the ground within 20 

 yards of one another, one in the middle of a dense matted bed of 

 Juncus gerardi well above the reach of the tides on one of the highest 

 points in the marsh, the other near the edge of a tide creek barely 

 above high-water mark among the coarse sedge that grows along these 

 creeks. Both of these nests were perfectly concealed from above and 

 every side, the first by living erect grass which grew almost as densely 

 as fur on an otter's back and to a height of about 20 inches, the second 

 by a broken down bunch of dry sedge under which there was barely 

 room for the bird to enter. 



"The other five nests were all raised well above the ground among 

 the upright stems of the coarse sedges, the clear space beneath their 

 bottoms varying from one to three or four inches. Four of them were 

 perfectly concealed from above as well as from all sides, three by the 

 tops of the clustering grasses in which they were placed, the fourth 

 by a mat of drift sedge which had been lodged on the tops of the 

 grasses by an unusually high tide. This last nest was in the middle 

 of a bed of coarse creek sedge. * * * The other nests were among 

 the fine salt grass on the edge of salt ponds. * * * The seventh 

 nest was on the edge of a ditch built in the very top of a clump of fine 

 short dry grass and as open above as the nest of a Red-winged Black- 

 bird." 



Of another occasion, on June 25, 1890, at Falmouth, Mass., he 

 writes (MS.): "The nests were all built among the stems of short, 

 upright grasses, their bottoms 2 or 3 inches above the ground, which 

 was wet and shiny but in no instance actually covered with water. 

 One nest was under a broad flake of broken down grass cemented 

 together into a firm mat by dried mud or slime. On one side, how- 

 ever, it was entirely open so that the eggs could be easily seen from 

 a distance of several yards. Another nest was under a similar mat 

 of slime-glued dead grass and leaves, but not trusting to this alone, 

 the bird had bent down the living grass on every side interweaving 

 the tips so as to form a perfect screen as well as a canopy extending 

 out an inch or more over the entrance which was a hole on the side. 

 * * * The third nest was among short wirey grasses, about half 

 green, half dry, the tops of which were bent down and interwoven 

 so as to form a perfect dome-shaped roof nearly as solid and thick 

 as that of a Marsh Wren's nest." 



The nests I have foimd at Barnstable, Mass., have all been in 

 Spaiiina patens, two in the center of pure growth about 10 inches 



