Nesting Habits of the Henslow's Sparrow 



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the nest, he flew rapidly back to the same place, and, alighting on the tip of 

 some shrub, sang lustily half a dozen times before dropping down to the ground 

 to search for more food. 



During the whole of this time, which covered about an hour altogether, 

 the female did not show herself once, but kept up a constant chipping down in 

 the grass. The nest, which I now found without any trouble, was a slight, flimsy 

 structure, composed of dead grass imbedded in the damp moss under a thick 

 patch of small ferns and grass, and contained four young birds about one week 

 old. 



The fact which interested me, even more than that I had at last found the 

 long-sought-for nest of a Henslow's Sparrow, was this probable habit of the 

 male, restricting himself to some small, favorite feeding-ground at a considerable 

 distance from the site of his nest, to which he invariably returned after feeding 

 his young. I believe that this is probably always the case and, therefore, a reason- 

 able explanation of why my previous searches had always been so fruitless. 

 Another interesting habit of the male was that he sang only immediately after 

 returning from feeding his young and before beginning to search for more food, 

 and during the rest of the time remained absolutely silent. 



Whether the female always remains close to the nest, as she did in this case, 

 I am unable to say, but the probabilities are that I had merely frightened her 

 off the nest while she was brooding her young and that she was too shy to return 

 to it. 



This experience taught me the folly of wasting time looking for a nest of a 

 Henslow's Sparrow close to where the male establishes himself, for the chances 

 are that the nest is from fifty to one hundred yards away. 



PUFFINS ON BIRD ROCK, GULF ST. LAWRENCE 

 Photographed by Edwin Beaupre 



