CLAY-COLORED SPARROW 1191 



It resembles closely that of the chipping sparrow but is not so compact. 

 The nest site is often a tuft of dead grass swathing the base of a shrub 

 such as wild rose, snowberry, ^dllow, or gooseberry; or the base of a 

 grass tuft, thistle, sweet fern, goldenrod, or other herbaceous plant; 

 also a low branch of shrubs or small trees including hawthorn, service- 

 berry, and conifers. Height from the ground varies from a fraction 

 of an inch to 4^ feet. When near the ground the nest may be entirely 

 covered with dead grass. When built elsewhere it is usiudly well 

 concealed by leaves. E. T. Seton (1891) ^^Tites: "When first the 

 discoverer draws aside the brush and exposes the nest with its comple- 

 ment his feelings are as of finding an exquisite casket of jewels." 

 During incubation and early brooding a searcher can find the nest 

 easily because the female generally flushes when the intruder is close 

 to the nest. On a calm day one may see the matted leaves of a bush 

 quiver a few feet ahead as the female prepares to flush. 



L. H. Walkinshaw (1939d) summarizes a study of 10 nests in a dry 

 brushy prairie area 5 miles long and 2 or more miles wide (sAvept by 

 fire diu"ing early 1930s) immediately west of Lovells, Cra^-ford County, 

 Mich. He says that each structure is usually raised from a base. 

 One nest was very conspicuous because of many long grass stems in the 

 base, 10 or 12 measuring 35 to 58.2 centimeters. Above were shorter 

 grasses in a circular formation Uned with finer tops of the same type 

 of grass, from 3 and 4 up to 15 centimeters in length. The nest 

 contained 384 pieces of grass. 



Observers have found grass, fine twigs, weed stalks, and rootlets 

 in the main structiu-e; and fine grasses, fine rootlets, horsehair, deer 

 hair, and cattle hair in the fining. John Lane found horsehair in 19 

 of 31 nests in southern Manitoba in 1960. He \^Tites me that earher 

 in this century, before the use of motorized farm equipment, clay- 

 colored nests in Manitoba contained much more horsehair than today. 

 He says that then most nests were weH Uned wdth shiny black hair, 

 a few with gray or white hair or a combination of gray and black. 

 Salt (1966) found no hair or other animal matter in any linings in 24 

 nests near Edmonton, Alberta, in 1964. 



L. H. Walkinshaw (1944a), after a study of 40 nests near Lovells, 

 Mich., says that the female builds the nest but is often accompanied 

 by the male on her short trips for material. Usually first nests are 

 much closer to the ground than later ones. The average heights in 

 centimeters from the ground to nest rim were: May, 3 nests, 15.6; 

 June, 15 nests, 49.6; July, 22 nests, 45.4; 40 nests, 44.75 (10-105). 

 A-verage dimensions in milhmeters of 34 nests were: interior diameter 

 at top, 45.9 (40-54); interior depth, 37.6 (25-48); exterior diameter 

 at top, 105.5 (80-140); depth overall, 65.6 (55-90). The average 

 weight of six nests was 3.95 grams (2.1-7.3). 



