ISSUED IN BEHALF OF THE SCIENCE WHICH IT ADVOCATES. 



Volume III, 



OCTOBER, 1877. 



Numb 1:1; 8. 



A Queer Nesting Place. 



' AVING had ample opportunity dur- 

 ing the past few weeks, to observe 

 tlie habits of the English Sparrow, 

 I have obtained some knowledge which is 

 new to me, and may be of interest to oth- 

 ers, since this little foreigner has lately been 

 so much talked about, 'pro and con. On 

 the 10th inst. I noticed a small flock of 

 these birds in a tree, directly beneath my 

 window, and, watching them, I saw one 

 suddenly dart out, pursue and capture, an 

 insect on the wing, as a true Flyratcher 

 would have done it. Others of the flock 

 presently did tlie same thing. I think this 

 bird has more of the habits of the Insediv- 

 ora, than is generally supposed. On the 

 12th I noticed a pair of Sparrows flying 

 about the eaves of the house, evidently look- 

 ing for a nesting place. At length they dis- 

 covered a hole in the wall whei'e a brick 

 had fallen out, leaving an aperture of about 

 four by seven inches. This seemed to suit 

 them exactly, and by niglit they had near- 

 ly filled the cavity with straws, pieces of 

 bark, &c., forming a rude and commodious 

 nest. As I look out of my window now, 

 I see the female demurely sitting on her 

 nest, doubtless engaged in the process of in- 

 cubation, for honsc'-keepi7}(jis quickly begun 

 with the Sparrows. By consulting my jour- 



nal, I find that the same species was ob- 

 served breeding by me, in Mexico, N. Y., 

 on the 23rd of last March, so that doubt- 

 less it breeds at least eight months in the 

 year. On the 13th I also saw them nest- 

 ing in the houses erected for them in the 

 park in this city, [Syracuse] where they 

 are very numerous, so I concluded the a- 

 bove case is not an exceptional one. I hope 

 that otliers will contribute their observa- 

 tions, so that the complete history of this 

 bird may be published and understood. 



John A. Severance. 



Nest of the Bkown Ckeepek. — To- 

 gether with several other interesting oolog- 

 ical items, Mr. Egbert Bagg, Jr., of this 

 city has handed us one concerning the nest- 

 ing of the Brown Creeper in this State, 

 which we think of sufficient importance to 

 publish, since the fact has been generally 

 discredited. A nest was found in Herki- 

 mer County, which contained two young 

 birds and two eggs, the latter being in the 

 possession of the collector Mr. Frank Car- 

 penter, or of Mr. Bagg. The nest was 

 placed in a crotch formed by the partial 

 falling away of a piece of bark from the 

 tree ; we did not ascertain tlie description 

 of the nest, nor the particulars of collec- 

 tion. The Brown Creeper has been repeat- 



