BIRDS OF 



Nest, on the ground, more rarely on a low tree or bush ; composed of 

 rootlets and leaves, lined with fine grass and occasionally some horse hair. 



Eggs, 4 to 5 ; very variable in marking, usually grayish or greenish- 

 white, blotched or spotted with brown, the shades of which differ greatly in 

 different specimens. 



This is an abundant summer resident, and one which seeks 

 the society of man, being found wherever human habitations 

 have been raised within its range. Large numbers pass on to 

 the north in April, returning again in October on their way 

 south, but they do not all leave us. While getting on or off 

 the ice on Hamilton Bay in the depth of winter, I have several 

 times been surprised by seeing a Song Sparrow rise from among 

 the flags, which at that season have a roof of snow, and no doubt 

 afford a comfortable shelter to the little birds. In the same- 

 locality, on a comparatively mild day in the middle of winter, I 

 have seen a male of this species mount to the top of a bulrush 

 and warble forth his pleasing familiar notes, perhaps in 

 appreciation of the rising temperature. 



In the " Birds of Ohio " Dr. Wheaton mentions the 

 following singular instance of the strong attachment which this 

 species has for its nest. ." Some laborers, who were cutting- 

 grass on a railroad track near Columbus, found a nest of this 

 species on the embankment, and though rather a delicate piece 

 of work for this class of men to undertake, they moved it from 

 its original site among the grass and placed it gently, but loosely, 

 on the fork of a horizontal limb of a maple sapling three feet 

 from the trunk. Instead of deserting the nest as many birds 

 would have done, or attempting to fasten it to the limb on 

 which it had been placed, the Sparrows brought long stems 

 of timothy grass and twisted them together and around a limb 

 extending over the nest at a distance of one and a half feet. 

 The lower ends of these stems were firmy fastened into the rim 

 of the nest, and other stems were woven in transversely, form- 

 a complete basket. The whole structure resembled an inverted 

 balloon, and in this remarkable construction the eggs were 

 hatched and the young safely raised. After the nest was 

 deserted, I found the guy ropes sufficiently strong to bear up 

 the nest, after the limb on which it was placed had been 

 removed." 



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