July, 1919 NESTING HAUNT OF THE MERRILL SONG SPARROW 147 
affording the bright sunny look-outs from which the male Song Sparrow pours 
forth his sweet song throughout the summer days. 
Beyond the willows, a fringe of spirea becomes very thick in places, and 
when in full leaf this makes a safe hiding place for a nest. This shrub, with 
occasional rose bushes and willows near the water, is very often selected for 
the second brood. Very few of these spirea shrubs have not waved their pretty 
dark pink plumes over a family of Song Sparrows in seasons past or else will 
not do so in seasons to come. Beyond the fringe of spirea, isolated and contin- 
uous clumps of sedge reach to the water’s edge. As the water in the outlet be- 
comes shallow and the low ground dry, such a clump is occasionally selected 
Fig. 27. NEST AND YOUNG OF MERRILL SONG 
SPARROW, SITUATED IN SPIREA BUSH; PHO- 
TOGRAPHED APRIL 28, 1918. 
as a location for the second nest and probably also for a third. <A few tules 
(Scirpus occidentalis) grow along the water’s edge, and the balance of the 
water, depending on its depth, is fairly well covered with water lily pads 
(Vymphaea polysepala). This appears to be the Song Sparrows’ playground, 
for they can be found any summer day flitting back and forth across the nar- 
row outlet or hopping from pad to pad, sometimes wading along the edge in the 
shallow parts, reminding one of the Water Ouzel except in color. The setting 
is practically the same on the other side of the outlet except that at the begin- 
ning of the high ground several species of willow of a larger variety replace 
Salix geyeriana. The Douglas firs growing on the hillside tend to cast a sha- 
