60 THE HOUSE SPARROW. 



proving her filial affection. It might he supposed that, 

 as these sparrows often resort to hollow trees for shelter 

 during the cold days and nights of winter, the aforemen- 

 tioned articles were designed for no other purpose than 

 that of rendering their roosting quarters more comfort- 

 able. I grant the plausibility of this explanation. But, 

 then, it is somewhat negatived by the fact that instances 

 are not wanting to prove that these birds do sometimes 

 take advantage of an unusually warm February in obe- 

 dience to their natural instincts of brood-raising. 



In the selection of a locality some birds are not at all 

 particular; but others, again, manifest a predilection for 

 boxes, or hollow trees. The ivy comes in for its share of 

 attention. Scores of birds not only find comfortable 

 shelter in the midst of its network of leaves and 

 branches during the rigors of winter, but also suitable 

 accommodations for nesting purposes. Where the above 

 conveniences are not available, actuated by a true 

 parental instinct, the birds sometimes place their nests 

 between the forked branches of a tree. The maple is 

 not uncommonly selected for this purpose. A case of the 

 kind came under my immediate observation in the sum- 

 mer of 1874. 



A nest, which the writer possesses, may be said to 

 constitute a typical structure, when nidification occurs 

 within a tree-cavity. It occupies the hollow branch of 

 an apple tree, and measures fifteen inches in length, and 

 four inches in diameter. Basally, it is composed of a 

 heterogeneous mixture of feathers, grasses, and leaves; 

 and, peripherally, of a thick wall of dry plant-stems, 

 intermingled with feathers of the barnyard fowl. The 

 labor of nidification ordinarily continues from four to 



