178 FRIENDS WORTH KNOWING. 



the nests found on the ground are built by young birds, 

 while older and more experienced sparrows place their 

 houses in vines and small trees, finding that at a little height 

 they are less liable to danger; furthermore, these nests 

 built at an elevation, being more exposed to the wind and 

 less braced, are more compactly and skilfully constructed 

 than those on the ground, the projecting ends of the straws 

 being neatly interwoven, or tied down, so as to present a 

 tolerably smooth exterior. The nests in the tussocks seem 

 manufactured chiefly out of the dead stems of crab-grasses 

 and other stuff within easy reach; but a variety of sub- 

 stances 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 addi- 

 tional 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 evenings of four or 

 five busy days. Both birds work diligently, the male 

 bringing the materials, and the female adjusting them. 



