THE MERRILL SONG SPARROW. 



141 



is llie choice morsel of e\'erything tiiat jireys. — cats, skunks, weasels, chip- 

 munks. Sharp-shinned Hawks, Crows, Magpies, Black-headed Jays, and garter 

 snakes. How would this motley company fare were it not for the annual 

 crop of Song Sparrows? And the wonder of it is that the hrave heart 

 holds out and sings its song n\ trust and lo\-e with the ruins of three nests 

 behind it and the harv'cst not _\ct past. 



Taken in Orcgo 



Photo by A. IV. Anthony. 



A I'KOFKSSION.AL OOLOGIST. 



A little glimpse of Nature's prodigality in this regard was afforded by 

 a ])air which nested on my grounds in the Ahtanum \'alley. On the 4th 

 of June I came upon a nest in a rose bush, containing frnn- \(iung just 

 hatched, and these almost immediatelx' disappeared — a second, or ])ossibly 

 a third, atlcmjit fur the seasnn. On July 4th in an adjoining clump the 

 same pair was disco\ered with three wcll-tleilged xoung. which, for aught 

 I know, reached days of self-dependence. On July 24th a nest was found 

 some twenty feet away containing four eggs, which T knew. i)ot]i b\- the 

 familiar notes and by elimination, to l)elong to this ])air: l)ut the nesl was 

 empty on the day fnllowing. 



.\t the beginning of the season nests are frequently made ui)iin llie 

 ground under cover of old \egetation, or at the base of protecting bush 

 clumps in swamps. Occasional ground nests may also be found thruout 

 the season. One seen at Stehekin on August 3d was nestled loosely in a 

 recumbent ])otato vine. At other times any situation in bush or tree, up 

 to twenty feet, is accejitable, if only within conxenient reach of water. .\ 



