148 THE CONDOR at 4 Vol. XXI 
dow over part of the open flat and while a few pairs of Song Sparrows nest in 
the fringe of spirea nearest the water they much prefer the open sunny side. 
The type specimen of Melospiza melodia merrill’ was collected not far 
from the haunt I have described, by Dr. J. C. Merrill, and deseribed by Mr. 
William Brewster in the Awk, vol. 13, 1896, p. 46. In his notes on this species 
(Auk, vol. 15, 1898, p. 16) Dr. Merrill gives as his earliest nesting record, fe- 
male incubating April 24, 1896, which was a cold backward season. My earli- 
est nesting record, nest wedged amid group of spirea stems 18 inches from base 
of bush, four eggs, female incubating, ground slightly covered with water, was 
April 12, 1918, a warm advanced spring. Nests with the first set of eggs can 
be looked for with certainty from after the first week in April until the first 
Fig. 28. NEST OF MERRILL SONG SPARROW CONTAINING FIVE YOUNG, WITH FEMALE PARENT 
FEEDING THEM; PHOTOGRAPHED May 25, 1918. THIS NEST, ALSO IN A SPIREA BUSH, WAS 
LOCATED 35 YARDS FROM THE ONE SHOWN IN THE PRECEDING PICTURE. 
week in May and are invariably placed in bushes partly submerged in water. 
There is no doubt that many of the first nests are washed out and the con- 
tents destroyed, during backward seasons, by heavy freshets. 
With incubation lasting twelve days and the young able to leave the nest 
at the age of 14 to 16 days, the first brood are able to rustle for themselves by 
the time the majority of the other song birds are just selecting nesting sites. 
The first nests of the season, built in spirea bushes, are rather bulky affairs, - 
wedged in against a number of stems for support. It does not take much 
