1893
June 18
(No 2.)
Saybrook Ferry, Conn.
  In the afternoon we beat the fields for Yellow-winged
Sparrows' nests. I found two, in both instances flushing
the bird who darted out directly under foot and ran
several yards with half spread wings before taking flight.
Both nests were in old, worn-out fields where the grass
was short and scanty, the soil thin &[and] gravely, the ground
broken into little mounds and hillocks. Both were in
the tops of these mounds in small tufts of short, fine
grass. Each nest was sunk to its rim in a hollow shaped
out by the birds and each was completely covered by
a little bower or canopy of interwoven dead grasses
with a small opening on one side, the plan of construction &[and] the
entrance hole being precisely like that adopted by the
Oven Bird. One nest like the one taken yesterday depended
for concealment wholly on the arch or bower of dry grasses
[delete]that[/delete]so that from one direction it was possible to work directly
in through the hole &[and] see the eggs or sitting bird. The other
nest was surrounded by a thin fringe of short living grass a
tuft of which drooped down over the entrance hole and 
had to be brushed aside before the interior of the nest
could be examined. This last nest contained three
perfectly fresh eggs. The other nest had two young only
a few hours old and two eggs one of which was chipped.
Both male birds were singing within less than 100 y[ar]ds
of their respective nests.
[margin]Yellow winged
Sparrows' 
nests.[/margin]

  Of the five nests (one empty) found thus far four
have been within thirty or forty yards of a fence, 
fence post or cluster of bushes on which the male could
perch &[and] sing. The nest with three eggs found to-day was
an exception to this apparent rule being near the midell
of a large field with nothing larger than an indigo plant near.