CLAY-COLORED SPARROW 1193 



visits to nesting areas near Brandon, Manitoba, during July of 1960 

 and 1961 did not yield even one nest. In some localities, on the other 

 hand, pallida appears to attempt two broods. L. H. Walkinshaw 

 (1944a) gives proof, based on observation of a color-banded pair, of 

 a second brood in Michigan. He \vi-ites: "One pair of birds definitely 

 feeding young, had eggs in a second nest during July 1944." He 

 adds: "Nests have been found as late as August 1, diuing 1937 \\ith 

 young." Clara Hussong (1946) provides evidence of second broods 

 in Wisconsin. On June 13, 1945, in Green Bay she tried to band 

 two full grown juveniles leaving a nest in an unkempt vacant lot 

 150 by 250 feet. On July 7, in a nest 50 feet from the first nest, in 

 the same back yard, she found four eggs in the process of hatching. 

 In both cases the male used the same elm tree as a singing post. 

 From St. Paul, Minn., Hubert Lewis (1943) reports five nests in which 

 eggs hatched on or about August 14, 24, and 28. These late dates 

 suggest second broods. 



Eggs. — The clay-colored sparrow usually lays three or four and 

 occasionally five slightly glossy eggs. They are ovate with some 

 tendency toward short ovate. The ground color is "bluish glaucous" 

 or "Etain blue" with spots, speckles and blotches of dark brown such 

 as "mummy brown," "aubiu-n," "Dresden brown," "snuff brown" or 

 "Brussels brown" and with a few scrawls of black. The undermark- 

 ings, which are not always present, are "pale neutral gray." The eggs 

 are rather sparingly marked, rarely unmarked, and the majority of 

 spots are confined to the large end where they often form a loose 

 wTeath. The markings are usually sharpl}^ defined and may be in 

 the form of a few quite large blotches mixed with small spots and an 

 occasional scrawl. These eggs are indistinguishable from those of 

 Spizella passerina except that series average slightly smaller. The 

 measurements of 50 eggs average 17.1 by 12.7 millimeters; the eggs 

 showing the four extremes measure 18.5 by 13.0, 17.6 by 15.0, and 

 14-5 by 11.5 millimeters. 



L. H. Walkinshaw (1944a) says that the female lays one egg daily 

 during the earlier morning hoiu-s. His average weights of eggs in 

 grams were: eggs quite fresh, 1.534; 19 at laying, 1.594; 6 at hatching, 

 1.26. In tabular form he shows that egg sets decrease in size with 

 the advance of the summer. The average number of eggs per set, 

 per month in 25 sets were: May 4, June 3.87, July 3.21. G. A. Fox 

 (1961) reports that in three nests in Saskatchewan, June 6-11, 1959, 

 the females began to lay eggs 1 and 2 days after completion of the 

 nests. W. R. Salt (1966) reports an instance in which the fourth 

 egg of a clutch was laid at least 3 days after the third one. 



Incubation. — h. H. Walkinshaw (1939d) wTites that on two occasions 

 at liovells, Mich., incubation started the night previous to laying of 



