THE OOLOGIST. 



41 



forms a canopy wrought by the Master 

 Hand. Overhead flies the Meadow 

 Lark, while its patient mate, lover-like, 

 watches o'er the brood. Occasionally 

 we hear its plaintive notes, which al- 

 ways inspire the writer with a feeliug 

 of sadness. It seemss as if the birds 

 have a language, which we are privil- 

 eged to study and even to understand. 



Resuming our walk, we suddenly 

 come upon a nest containing three eggs 

 which we identify as those of the 

 Swamp Sparrow. What happiness is 

 ours, for it is the first set of this species 

 we have ever discovered. We press 

 onward imbued by new hope, and are 

 rewarded by sets of -Morning Dove, 

 Robin, Catbird, Yellow Warbler, Cedar 

 Waxwing, Blackbird and Purple 

 Grackle. 



Are we proud of our day's success? 

 Ask the young Naturalist for he can 

 answer. Grateful are we that ours has 

 been the great privilege of becoming 

 better acquainted with our friends, the 

 birds. 

 Ah, friend, if thou wotildst Nature understand. 



Commune with her, yes, go forth hand in 

 hand; 

 Translate the songs her feathered children sing, 



So shall thy life be but continued Spring. 

 WlLHELMINE A. STARK, 



Buffalo, N. Y. 



Some Sparrows in Minnesota. 



a 



The following observations were all 

 made within a radius of thirty miles 

 about Minneapolis, Minn. 



One of our rare migrants is the Le- 

 conte's Sparrow, but I have had the 

 good fortune to take two specimens and 

 have seen tweuty more. My birds 

 were all seen in the long dry grass in 

 the meadows. As I walked through 

 the grass they would rise at my very 

 feet and fly straight as an arrow for a 

 few yards and then drop down. Here 

 they would creep some distance and it 

 would take a good deal of stamping 

 about in the immediate vicinity before 



they could be Hushed again. Where 

 one was found there were generally 

 several more. 



The Lark Finch comes about the 

 middle of April and like the Vesper 

 Sparrow he haunts the fields and road- 

 sides. His song is not one to be des- 

 pised, and perched upon a fence or 

 clod of dirt he loves to sing away the 

 late afternoons when the bird chorus 

 from the groves has grown faint. 



He builds his nest on the ground in 

 the fields, or very often on the grassy 

 banks along the road or by the side of 

 a foot-path. I have found a nest plac- 

 ed in the cinders and chips between 

 the two tracks of a double-tracked 

 railway. I have seen a nest in a slop- 

 ing sand-bank iwithin fifty yards of a 

 large grain elevator within the heart 

 of the city, and also one within a few 

 feet of a base in a ball ground. In 

 fact they seem to enjoy a place where 

 their eggs are liable to be stepped up- 

 on. All the nests that I have found 

 have been lined with black horse hair 

 and contained four or five eggs. 



Harris's Sparrow is not a very rare 

 migrant. Just at that time when the 

 migrating Warblers pass through and 

 there is an abundance of birds every- 

 where, single birds or small flocks may 

 be found flitting along the hedges that 

 border the roads or divide the fields. 

 He also has a great affiinity for plum 

 groves. 



He is very conspicuous on account 

 of his contrast in colors and is quick of 

 movement being almost continually on 

 the hop. 



The majority of them remain but 

 three or four days, though an occasion- 

 al bird may be seen eight or ten days 

 after they arrive. 



The White-crowned Sparrow is not a 

 very common migrant and can be 

 found in company with the White- 

 throated Sparrow though he arrives 

 somewhat later. 

 The White-throated Sparrow comes 



