^°\ i^^^l Saunders, Tie Ipsxvic/i Sfarrozv. 269 



1902 J 



grass where the bleached stems of last year had fallen over, thus 

 increasing the shelter, the exceptions being placed, one in a clump 

 of crowberry {Empctriim nigrum), one among dark green rushes, 

 and three in a field of clover, of the most vivid green, surrounding 

 the Superintendent's house. The former was said to be a favorite 

 situation, but such cover was rare on most of the ground where I 

 hunted, and only the one was seen, so situated. The nests are 

 large, deep and thick, sometimes being heavily lined with horse- 

 hair, and always placed in an excavation of one-half to one inch 

 in the ground. A few of the incomplete nests were placed in 

 holes in hillsides, just such positions as the Junco frequently uses, 

 a projecting piece of sod partly sheltering the nest from above. 



The chief ingredient in the construction of all the nests is fine, 

 dry grasses ; and frequently these compose the whole of the bottom 

 of the nest, there being only a slight dilTerence in the fineness of 

 those placed on the ground and those on which the eggs are laid. 

 The upper edge of the nest is covered with coarser grasses, with 

 a very few weed stems, but the latter increase in number as the 

 ground is approached, and at the ground level the weed stems 

 predominate. Eel grass is often added and sometimes moss, but 

 the centre of the nest against the ground shows from three to six 

 square inches of fine grass only. 



The measurements of the nests average as follows: 



The thickness of the walls is thus shown to vary from one-half 

 to two inches. 



The nest in Empetrum was the smallest, all the minimum 

 measurements belonging to it, the reason probably being that this 

 plant grows so thick that the site selected was too small to hold 

 a much larger nest, and the birds have not the art of embracing 

 twigs in it, but place it as a rule entirely free from its surroundings. 



The only nest of the Savanna Sparrow to which I have access 

 just now, measures 2^ x 4^ in diameter against 2J x 5, average 

 for the Ipswich, and in depth if x 2^ against 2 x 3 for the Ips- 



