WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



in easy reach; but a variety of substances 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 additional 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 even- 

 ings of four or five busy days. Both birds work 

 diligently, the male bringing the materials and the 

 female adjusting them. The day after the nest 

 is done an egg is laid, and one more each succeed- 

 ing day until there are five; and very hard to dis- 

 tinguish from the eggs of several other ground- 

 building sparrows they are. The ground-color 

 runs through all intermediate tints from grayish 

 or brownish white to decided green. The blotch- 

 ing is generally profuse, and often confluent into 

 a wreath about the large end, the colors being un- 

 derlying purples and bright-brown surface paint- 

 ing. They are inclined to be thick and blunt 



153 



