THE SAFFRON FINCH. 23 



like the English Sparrow ; in country places they always select the 

 domed nest of some Dendrocolaptind* species to breed in. Possibly in 

 some districts where I have not been, this Sparrow selects other breed- 

 ing sites ; my experience is that outside of a town it never lays 

 anywhere but in some domed nest, and at home I frequently put up 

 boxes for them in the trees, but they would not notice them, though 

 the Wrens and Swallows were glad to have them. Sometimes they 

 make choice of the large fabric of the Anumbius acuticaudatus, called 

 Lenaters in the vernacular ; but their claim to this nest (even when 

 the Lenateros are out of it) is frequently disputed by other species 

 which possess the same habit as this Sparrow, but are more powerful 

 than he. Their favourite breeding-place is, however, the solid earthen 

 structure of the Oven-bird ; and it is wonderful to see how persistently 

 and systematically they labour to drive out the lawful owners birds 

 so much larger and more powerful than themselves. Early in Spring, 

 and before the advent of the Tree- Martins, the pair of Sparrows begin 

 haunting the neighbourhood of the oven they have elected to take 

 possession of, usually one pretty high up in a tree. As the season 

 advances their desire towards it increases, and they take up their 

 position on the very tree it is in, and finally a particular branch near 

 the oven, commanding a good view of the entrance, is chosen for a 

 permanent resting-place. Here they spend a great portion of their 

 time in song, twitterings and loving dalliance, and if attentively observed, 

 they are seen with eyes ever fixed on the coveted abode. As the need 

 for a receptacle for the eggs becomes more urgent they grow bolder, 

 and in the absence of the owners flit about the oven, alight on it, and 

 even enter it. The Oven-bird appears to drive them off with screams 

 of indignation, but the moment he retires they are about it again, and 

 even when it contains eggs or young birds, begin impudently carrying 

 in feathers, straw, and other materials for a nest, as if they were 

 already in undisputed possession. At this stage the Tree-Martins 

 (Progne tapera) perhaps appear to complicate matters ; and even if 

 these last comers do not succeed in ousting the Oven-birds, they are 

 sure to seize the oven when it becomes vacant, and the Sparrows, in 

 spite of their earlier claim, are left out in the cold. But they do not 

 take their defeat quietly, or rather, they do not know when they are 

 beaten, but still remain to harass their fellow-pirates, just as they did 

 the Oven-birds before, bringing straws and feathers in their beaks, 

 and when forced to drop these materials, and chased from the neigh- 

 bourhood with great noise and fury by the Tree-Martins, it is only to 



* Birds having habits similar to the Tree-Creeper. A.G.B. 



