The Song Sparrows 91 



greater number will go to the southerly limit, lured by mild weather and the 

 more generous food supply. 



The range of our Eastern Song Sparrow is through the whole of eastern 

 North America westward to the plains. It nests from Virginia and northern 

 Illinois up to Manitoba and Quebec, and winters from Massachusetts and 

 southern Illinois down to the Gulf of Mexico. When you realize what different 

 conditions obtain in the various parts of this great range, you will at once see 

 how very adaptable this Sweet Singer is to all sorts of climate and food con- 

 ditions. For though we may not think them plentiful birds, from their rather 

 elusive ways, habit of spending much time in river brush, and never gathering 

 in great autumnal flocks, like some of their kin, yet they are one of the few species 

 that have everywhere increased rather than diminished. 



The difference in the time when nesting is begun by different species of birds 

 is a most fascinating study. By the middle of March the winter Song Sparrows 

 will have taken wing, and from that time until well into April 

 The Nest the summer residents will come along, not in flocks, but one or 



two at a time, appearing near the old nesting places. April is 

 probably the best time to hear the most voluble and unguarded song of the 

 Sweet Singers, for, as they do not begin to nest until early May, there is no 

 necessity of secrecy of movement or choice of singing perch. 



It is a fact to be noted, that the hardiest birds, or those first to arrive, are by 

 no means those that nest first. The large birds, Owls, Hawks, etc., take the lead 

 of the smaller birds; the Bluebird, White-breasted Nuthatch and Robin only 

 nest in April. The Song Sparrow and Phoebe (who returns in March) wait 

 until May; and the Goldfinch and Cedar Birds, both sturdy winter residents, 

 wait until almost the end of June. 



The Song Sparrow conceals its nest with the greatest care, either in the mazes 

 of a low bush, in the division of the branches of a shrub just above ground, 

 where bits of bark and dry leaves have colletced, or on the ground itself between 

 grass tussocks that not only conceal the nest, but are sometimes woven in with 

 the rootlets, plant fibers and shredded bark of which the nest is formed. Like 

 the Chipping Sparrow or Hair Bird, it sometimes uses horsehair for an inner 

 lining, and the four or five bluish white eggs, profusely marked with reddish 

 brown, are always softly bedded by fine grasses. 



The Sweet Singer does not always use the best of judgment in choosing 

 the structure that is to hold its nest, though this I have found applies strictly 

 to the second nest built in middle or late June, when, being attracted to the 

 flower garden by the bird-bath in the corner, a pair of Sparrows built a nest 

 among the flower-heads of a bunch of feverfews, that faded and left the nest 

 exposed at the very time that the youngsters needed the most protection. 



Much as they resent the company of humans near their homes, they made 

 no objection to the strawberry basket that was secured under their nest, to keep 

 it from tipping sidewise and dumping its load on the bare earth; neither did they 



