SONG SPARROW. 127 



well fitted for the reception of a fresh set of eggs as the new nest which 

 the bird constructs. I am unable to understand the reason why a new 

 nest is formed. Can you, reader, solve the question ? 



I have at all times been very partial to the Song Sparrow ; for al- 

 though its attire is exceedingly plain, it is pleasing to hear it, in the 

 Middle States, singing earlier in spring, and later in autumn, than almost 

 any other bird. Its song is sweet, of considerable duration, and performed 

 at all hours of the day. It nestles sometimes on trees, and sometimes on 

 the ground. I have imagined that the old birds, finding by experience 

 the insecurity of their ordinary practice of nesthng on the ground, where 

 the eggs are often devoured by Crows, betake themselves to the bushes 

 to conceal their nests from their enemies. But whatever may be the 

 reason, the fact certainly exists, and the nests of the Song Sparrow occur 

 in both kinds of situation. The nest for the first brood is prepared, and 

 the eggs laid, sometimes as early as the 15th of April. The young are 

 out by the first week of May. The third brood is seen by the middle of 

 September. The nest, when on the ground, is well sunk in the earth, and 

 is placed at the roots of tall grasses. It is made of fine grass, and Hned 

 with hair, principally horse- hair. The number of eggs is from five to 

 seven, usually from four to six, excepting those for the last brood, which 

 I have seldom found to exceed three. They are of a very broad ovate 

 form, light greenish-white, speckled with dark umber, the specks larger 

 toward the greater end. The male assists in the process of incubation, 

 during which one of the birds feeds the other in succession. At this time 

 the male is often to be observed singing on the top of a neighbouring 

 bush, low tree, or fence-rail. 



The flight of the Song Sparrow is short, and much undulated, when 

 the bird is high in the air, but swifter and more level when it is near the 

 ground. They migrate by night, singly or in straggling troops. Some 

 of them remain the whole winter in the Middle Districts, where they are 

 not unfrequently heard to sing, if the weather prove at all pleasant. The 

 greater part, however, seek the Southern States, where myriads of Sparrows 

 of different kinds are everywhere to be seen in low swampy situations, such 

 as they at aU periods prefer. It is a fine plump bird, and becomes very 

 flat and juicy. It is picked up in great numbers by the Hen-harriers, 

 which visit us for the purpose of feeding on the different kinds of Sparrows 

 that resort to these States in winter from the Middle Districts. In Louisi- 

 ana, they are frequently seen to ascend to the tops of large trees, and 



