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cape the notice of probably ninety-five out of a hundred per- 

 sons. They make their homes on the ground in fields and 

 pastures. When singing you can usuall_v locate them on a 

 stone wall, fence post or some little elevation in the mid- 

 dle of the field. 



The continued presence of a pair of "Grasshoppers" in a 

 field that I often crossed, finally tempted me to try and find 

 their nest. A large stone in the middle of the field furnish- 

 ed a lookout perch for the male bird. He commenced 

 chirping as soon as I climbed the wall and in a few mo- 

 ments his mate appeared on the rock too ; it was impossible 

 to tell from which direction she came as she was wholly 

 concealed by the tall grass when she ran from the nest. At- 

 tempts on several days, to start her from the nest, failed 

 because of the vigilance of the guard, until I almost de- 

 spaired of finding it. One morning I crept carefully up to 

 the wall and watched, without being seen, for over an hour, 

 At last I was rewarded by seeing a sparrow-like bird fly 

 from the grass, across the fields. x\nother wait of a half 

 hour and she returned, first alighting on the rock beside 

 the male and then, as she had no idea anyone was watching, 

 she flew about fifty yards away and dropped into the grass 

 at the same point she had risen from. 



I got quickly over the wall and rushed to the spot ; as the 

 watchman had no time to warn her, she flushed from the 

 nest within ten feet of me. It contained five pretty, white, 

 spotted eggs in a little grass cup well arched over on the 

 southern side so as to always be shaded within. 



Daily visits were now paid, and the habits of the female 

 gr? dually underwent a change as the eggs advanced in incu- 

 bation, until she would allow me to reach a point where I 

 could look in and see her. The next time, I took the camera 

 already set on a short tripod. In order not to startle her 

 too suddenly, I walked slowly by the nest several times, 

 as though I did not see her, pausing a little longer each 



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