146 THE CONDOR Vol. XXI 
The extreme west end of Fernan Lake (see CoNpor, xv, pp. 119, 122) 
narrows down and forms what is, during the early part of the season, the out- 
let for the spring overflow caused by the melting of snow from the surrounding 
hills. The amount of the water depends on the snow that has accumulated dur- 
ing the winter months, and usually covers the small meadow (fig. 26) to a 
depth of one to two feet. As the overflow recedes, generally by the middle of 
May, the various forms of plant life take on their growth activities. Beginning 
with the higher bank which is the limit of the overflow (foreground, fig. 26) 
is a fringe of wild rose bushes (Rosa nutkana) intermingled with Spirea men- 
zresvi, black haw (Crataegus douglasw) and serviceberry bushes, further to the 
right and left becoming a dense thicket, overshadowed by a grove of quaking 
Fig. 26. NESTING HAUNT OF THE MERRILL SONG SPARROW; NEAR COEUR D'ALENE, IDAHO, 
May 15, 1918. 
asp (Populus tremuloides) and a few cottonwood trees. These deciduous 
trees and bushes form a fairly heavy humus which harbors a host of insect life 
and constitutes the principal feeding ground for the several pairs of Song 
Sparrows which are nesting near by. The small open meadow is covered with 
a rank growth of several species of sedge, the dry blades and culms of which 
form the bulk of the outer nest material; it matches up closely with the dry 
clumps of similar material that have lodged in the larger spirea bushes and wil- 
iows from previous overflows and makes it an easy matter to overlook nests be- 
cause of this striking resemblance. 
Scattered through the opening are clumps and single bushes of spirea 
which is the shrub preferred for the location of the first nest of the season. 
Then comes a fringe of small narrow-leafed willows (Salix geyeriana), these 
