THE SONG SPARROW 57 



builders, it is a risky experiment to build in a 

 tree. The conditions are vastly different. One of 

 my near neighbors, a little song sparrow, learned 

 this lesson the past season. She grew ambitious ; 

 she departed from the traditions of her race, and 

 placed her nest in a tree. Such a pretty spot she 

 chose, too, — the pendent cradle formed by the in- 

 terlaced sprays of two parallel branches of a Nor- 

 way spruce. These branches shoot out almost hori- 

 zontally ; indeed, the lower ones become quite so 

 in spring, and the side shoots with which they are 

 clothed droop down, forming the slopes of minia- 

 ture ridges ; where the slopes of two branches 

 join, a little valley is formed, which often looks 

 more stable than it really is. My sparrow selected 

 one of these little valleys about six feet from the 

 ground, and quite near the walls of the house. 

 "Here," she thought, "I will build my nest, and 

 pass the heat of June in a miniature Norway. 

 This tree is the fir-clad mountain, and this little 

 vale on its side I select for my own." She car- 

 ried up a great quantity of coarse grass and straws 

 for the foundation, just as she would have done 

 upon the ground. On the top of this mass there 

 gradually came into shape the delicate structure 

 of her nest, compacting and refining till its deli- 

 cate carpet of hairs and threads was reached. So 

 sly as the little bird was about it, too, — every mo- 



