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On the Breeding of Song-Sparrows.



On or about the 26th of May one young bird was hatched.

I knew of its arrival by the energetic way the male hunted for

insects, especially small green caterpillars, of which he seemed

to find a good many amongst the shrubs growing in the aviary.

But there were not nearly enough of these to keep even one hungry

young bird alive, and I promptly supplied small gentles in sand.

These were taken as fast as I liked to give them, the parents

cramming their bills as full as they could before flying to the

nest.


The young bird left the nest on June the 7th and com¬

menced to feed itself about a fortnight later.


The Chingolo repaired the old nest as soon as the young

one had left, and laid another clutch of four eggs, three of which

hatched about June the 22nd, and the young birds left the nest

on July 4th, and as I write (July 15th) are just commencing to

pick up food for themselves, though the parents will probably

continue to feed them for some time.


The young birds at present are insignificant grey birds not

unlike young Reed Buntings. The head is distinctly striped as

in both of the parents, but it is too soon to determine as to which

species they will mostly resemble.


So far as I could see the young birds were fed entirely

upon living insects while in the nest, but after they left soft

food, mostly yolk of egg, was also taken.


For the first week after leaving the nest the young Song-

Sparrows kept amongst the thickest foliage in the aviary and it

was extremely difficult to see them amongst the leaves, but every

now and then one of the old birds—usually the male—would

collect a beak-full of grubs and fly off into the shrubs, when the

voices of the young birds while being fed soon revealed their

whereabouts.



D. Seth-Smith.



