112 Bird -Lore 



flushing, for whenever I heard the famihar cheer-r-r-up, it seemed to invariably 

 come from that very same spot. So I gave up all hope of finding his nest there 

 and wandered on up through the marsh. When I had reached a spot fully sixty 

 yards from where I had always seen the male Henslow's Sparrow, I heard a bird 

 chipping close to me down in the thick marsh grass and small ferns. I suspected 



HENSLOW'S SPARROW, FROM A MOUNTED SPECIMEN 



at once that this might be the female objecting to my presence in the neighbor- 

 hood, though it was impossible to see her and I could not flush her, for when 

 I walked toward the sound, she would run a few feet to one side and start chip- 

 ping again. So I crossed over to the other side of the marsh and hid myself 

 behind a small bush in hopes that she might then show herself, and, at the same 

 time, disclose the location of her nest. After waiting some time, my attention 

 was attracted to a bird flying up the marsh which lit on the tip of a sprig of 

 spirea for a minute and then dove down into the grass near where I had heard 

 the female chipping. In a minute or two it reappeared and flew rapidly back 

 to the clump of ferns and shrubs where I had previously flushed the male Hen- 

 slow's Sparrow. I recrossed the marsh in order to be nearer to the spot which 

 he had visited, and watched again. In about fifteen minutes I saw him flying up 

 the marsh from the same direction; and this time I perceived that he had a worm 

 in his bill, which confirmed my suspicion that he was visiting his nest. He repeated 

 the same performance as before, — perching on the tip of a spring of spirea, he 

 looked about for a minute, evidently in order to see whether the coast was clear, 

 and then darted down into the grass about ten feet away. In order to be certain 

 that I had marked the location of his nest exactly, I remained where I was 

 until after the male had visited the nest for the third time. Each time, on leaving 



