Nesting Habits of the Henslow's Sparrow 



113 



hack to the same place, and, ali 

 all' a (lozi'ii limt's before (li()i)|)inir 



(lowi 



;he lip of 

 ic L!;round 



, which covered about an hour altogether, 

 e, but kei)t u|) a constant chipping down in 

 lund without any trouble, was a slight, flimsy 

 imbedded in the dam]) moss under a thick 

 lur voung birds about one week 



the nest, he llew rapidl 

 some shrub, sing lustily 

 to search for more food. 



During the whole of this time 

 the female did not show herself oik 

 the grass. The nest, whic h I now f( 

 structure, composed of dead gra^> 

 patch of small feriiv and grass, and contained 

 old. 



The fact which interested mc, even more than that I had at last found the 

 long-sought-for nest of a Henslow's Sparrow, was this probable habit of the 

 male, restricting himself to some small, favorite feeding-ground at a considerable 

 distance from the site of his nest, to which he invariably returned after feeding 

 his young. I believe that this is probably always the case and, therefore, a reason- 

 able explanation of why my previous searches had always been so fruitless. 

 Another interesting habit of the male was that he sang only immediately after 

 returning from feeding his young and before beginning to search for more food, 

 and during the rest of the time remained absolutely silent. 



Whether the female always remains close to the nest, as she did in this case, 

 I am unable to say, but the probabilities are that I had merely frightened her 

 off the nest while she was brooding her young and that she was too shy to return 

 to it. 



This experience taught me the folly of wasting time looking for a nest of a 

 Henslow's Sparrow close to where the male establishes himself, for the chances 

 are that the nest is from liftv to one hundred vards awav. 



PUFFINS ON BIRD ROCK, GULF ST. L.\WRENCE 



Plu>to(;rai)hed by Edwin Bcaupre 



