SUDDEN fluttering almost under 

 foot, and slow, reluctant flight close 

 to the ground revealed the location of a Song 

 Sparrow's nest. In open and unwarranted con- 

 fidence it was placed on the ground, though built 

 with care and compactly rounded ♦ The five eggs 

 were carefully and regularly placed with their 

 small ends downward ♦ They were pale, almost 

 white, with the rich brown spots crowding and 

 clustering on the larger ends as if they were freckled 

 by exposure to the sun. It seemed a tempting of the 

 fates thus to risk the depredations of thoughtless 

 boys and vagrant cats. Sometimes the Song Sparrow 

 builds near the ground in a bush, but this one had 

 risked the level surface. Three days later good 

 fortune and assiduous devotion to parental duties 

 had combined to reward the mother with three nest- 

 lings, their big, round eyes still unopened, but their 

 gaping throats revealing a misplaced confidence in 

 the bounty of intruders. On the following day there 

 was a genuine surprise. Crowding the three nestlings 

 and the two unhatched eggs was a half -fledged 

 intruder from another family. How did it get there i 



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