68 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



high note repeated three times, and a rapid run 

 down the scale and back; but it varies greatly 

 with individuals, and almost every writer renders 

 it differently. 



In choosing the site for its nest, the song spar- 

 row adapts itself to circumstances with the grace 

 of a true philosopher. At one time content with 

 making a rude mat of straw at the bottom of a 

 roadside brush heap, at another it builds in a 

 willow, using the woolly catkins to soften the bed ; 

 and frequently it nests right on the ground, when 

 the farmers call it the " ground sparrow." But 

 the prettiest site of any I have ever known was 

 in a sweetbriar bush on the edge of the garden. 

 Here the little mother could be lulled into her 

 noon-day nap by the droning of the bumble-bees 

 buzzing about the garden ; or, if she chose, watch 

 the fluttering butterflies and quivering humming- 

 birds hovering over the bright flowers. Every 

 breath of air brought her the perfume of the briar 

 leaves, and when the pink buds unfolded she could 

 tell off the days of her brooding by the petals that 

 fluttered to the ground. 



