open Nests on the Ground 



581. Song Sparrow: Melospiza fasciata (Gmel.) 



Adult — Upper parts rich brown streaked with blac]<, the head 

 having a light gray line in the centre, either side of the crown 

 being brown ; throat and breast light gray, Vi'ith brown 

 marl<.s which usually form an irregular blotch on the breast. 

 Length — 6.30. 



Breeding Range — Throughout the Eastern States. "East of the 

 Alleghanies, it breeds from South Carolina north to the Brit- 

 ish provinces." 



The nest varies greatly both as to the materials used in its 

 construction and to where it is placed ; sometimes it is a bulky 

 structure of coarse grass, weeds, leaves, and bark, lined with hair, 

 being as much as two and a half inches deep inside, and then 

 again it may be a flimsy, shallow affair made of grass and lined 

 with fine grass ; it is placed on the ground, in open fields or in 

 woody places, or it is sometimes built in bushes as high as fi\'e 

 feet from the ground. The eggs vary greatly, both as to colour 

 and size, ranging from .76 to .85 in length and from .=,s to .60 in 

 diameter ; the ground colour is white, sometimes tinged with 

 green or blue, with irregular brownish blotches and markings, 

 which in some cases nearly conceal the ground colour. See Fig. 

 4, Plate B. 



The Song Sparrow shows a nature of such extraordinary 

 adaptability to all sorts of conditions that in this one respect he 

 proves himself to be a remarkable little character — a character very 

 well worth studying. Everything about him is made and done 

 with apparentlv but little regard to rules of anv kind. Each sea- 

 son he rears an indefinite number of families, ranging from one to 

 four. The nests are made in various sizes, of \'arious materials, 

 and built in anv sort of place, from an old tin can to a hole in a 

 tree, but usually either on the ground or in a bush ; if on the 

 ground it may be in a fine large breezy meadow, where the ground 

 is dry, or on the top of a tussock in a swampy thicket. 



The time for singing his familiar song varies gi'eatly both as 

 to hour and season ; one must not be surprised if at any hour of 

 the day or night his song is heard, whether it be on a bleak March 

 day or when the trees have taken on the glories of the rich au- 

 tumn colouring ; time and place matter but little to this happy 

 songster. Nesting begins about May ist. 



4 49 



