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178 FRIENDS WORTH KNOWING. 
the nests found on the ground are built by young birds, 
while older and more experienced sparrows place their 
houses in vines and small trees, finding that at a little height 
they are less liable to danger; furthermore, these nests 
built at an elevation, being more exposed to the wind and 
less braced, are more compactly and skilfully constructed 
than those on the ground, the projecting ends of the straws 
being neatly interwoven, or tied down, so as to present a 
tolerably smooth exterior. The nests in the tussocks seem 
manufactured chiefly out of the dead stems of crab-grasses 
and other stuff within easy reach; but a variety of sub- 
stances enter into the composition of the elevated nests, 
such as flowering weeds, narrow leaves, paper, strips of 
bark, and raw cotton (which sometimes thatches the whole 
outside), with horse-hair and milk-weed silk to give addi- 
tional softness to the lining. When circumstances favor, a 
sort of sheltering platform is arranged over the nest in the 
tree or vines; just as frequently the approach to the nest 
hidden in the meadow lies through a tunnel like a field- 
mouse’s path under the tall grasses. 
The labor of building occupies the attention of the pair 
during the cool of the mornings and evenings of four or 
five busy days. Both birds work diligently, the male 
bringing the materials, and the female adjusting them. 
