Vebmont Botanical and Bird Club 23 



June 7, discover song sparrow, evidently female, bathing near 

 spring. After this date frequently see her taking her bath about noon. 

 The male is still silent (discover nest in hedge with five eggs). 



June 10, the male returns to perch in grape arbor and sings tri- 

 umphantly. The young are evidently past the most voracious period 

 and his cares are lessening. 



June 11, am awakened by song of the male at 4 a. m., very beauti- 

 ful and happy. 



June 13, discover young sparrows in grape vine, where I had sus- 

 pected the nest was. 



June 16, see four young sparrows with parent birds who were 

 feeding them at intervals of from three to five minutes. Young birds 

 utter peculiar "cheep, cheep," asking continually for something to eat. 



June 17, parent song sparrows (each) take two little ones about 

 garden to teach them how to get food. Implicit trust on the part of little 

 birds, as they follow old birds and do as old ones do. Occasionally 

 the old birds flew away bringing small moths and other insects which 

 caused great twitterings and talking. The male, overcome with joy, 

 would sometimes fly to his perch and burst forth in ecstatic song. The 

 young birds were very chubby and with shorter tails than those of 

 the parent birds. 



June 18 (and for nearly a week), the lessons or meetings went on, 

 and during that time the young birds were taken to the pool by the 

 spring for bathing lessons, or, at least, I find them bathing there with 

 their parents. Shortly after this I discover the old birds are carrying 

 building material into grape vine, but on account of its density and the 

 inaccessible cliff that it covers, I refrain from finding the exact spot 

 of the nest. 



The same process as above described is repeated, male sings inces- 

 santly for a short time and then the period of silence. 



June 29, I again see them rustling about for food and hear the 

 "chink, chinking" when I go near the grape vine. 



July 11, take specimen that is full grown. (Second brood). 



Aug. 10, many birds found flocking together near "The Highlands," 

 among them many song sparrows. 



August 19, get specimen of young song sparrow — length S^ inches, 

 wing 2% inches, tail 1 inch. Second brood of young song sparrows 

 feeding in my garden. 



September 12, young sparrows learning to sing, very retiring, keep 

 to the shrubbery, and strange little squeaky notes arise, which I find 

 positively are the young birds. 



