SPARROWS 429 



The depth of this nest was four and a half outside by one and 

 a half inches inside. The diameter outside was nine inches 

 longest way by five shortest way, and the internal diameter two 

 and a half inches. The five eggs measure 0.73 x 0;68, 0.76 x 

 0.68, 0.73 X 0.67, 0.73 x 0.67, 0.74 x 0.67. Other nests have 

 been composed almost entirely of grasses and sedges, placed on 

 the ground, in rose or blackberry bushes, or in cattails and 

 sedges over water. 



Four or five eggs are usually laid and these are in general 

 white to bluish white or light bluish green, and very varyingly 

 sprinkled, spotted, dotted and wreathed with various shades 

 of reddish or rufous brown and sometimes grayish. A majority 

 of the eggs are heavily spotted or wreathed about the larger 

 ends, others are more evenly spotted all over. 



Some individuals must begin nest building very early indeed, 

 for I have found young birds in the nest rarely as early as 

 May tenth. The majority of individuals, however, have fresh 

 eggs in late May or early June with us, a second brood may 

 be expected in early July, and very exceptionally a third brood 

 is reared in mid August. Nest building requires seven to ten 

 days and as far as I am able to judge the female usually does 

 all this work, though once I did see both birds working on a 

 nest, but the male was more inclined to shirk his share, pick- 

 ing up material, dropping it and picking it up again, singing 

 meanwhile. Though the male is generally around to sound the 

 alarm and see that all goes well, it is very little if any of the 

 work of incubation that he does. He does however do his 

 share towards feeding the young, and in some instances if not 

 always, assumes their care while the female is incubating the 

 second batch. 



The eggs hatch in ten to fourteen days according to circum- 

 stances, and the young leave in ten to fourteen days more. In 

 the case of ground nests they run before able to fly, scattering 

 from the nest at my approach sometimes when only ten days 

 old, while in the elevated nests they do not leave until later. 



