The Song Sparrow 
123 
Watchful 
Behavior 
Hunting the Song Sparrow’s nest is an interesting experience. The 
most effective way to find one is to watch the birds during the months 
of May and June when they are engaged in nest-building. When you 
discover one holding dry grass-blades or fragments of dead leaves in its 
bill, drop everything else you may have in mind and keep your eyes 
on it. If the bird sees that it is observed it may become suspicious, and 
alight on various perches before going to the spot 
where the new nest may already be taking shape. It 
is well, therefore, to remain as quiet as possible, 
making no unnecessary noises, and, above all, no sudden motions. 
After the eggs are hatched, the nest is even more easily found 
by watching the birds, for then one or the other of the parents ordinarily 
visits the nest every few minutes, as the young are great eaters and their 
appetites seem never satisfied. In examining an occupied nest the great- 
est care should always be taken. It is not well actually to touch a 
nest, nor to disturb much the leaves or grass that usually covers its 
hidden retreat. When the young have left it, however, there is no 
reason why the nest should not be taken if one wishes to do so, for 
neither the old birds nor the young will return to it. 
Inspection will show it to be made of such articles as coarse grasses, 
small roots, dead leaves, and strips of bark. The lining, where the 
bodies of the little ones have rested, is usually composed of fine grasses, 
and sometimes long hairs are used. The nest seems to be so simple a 
structure that one might almost believe he could himself make a Song 
Sparrow’s nest ; but try it and see how you prosper ! Take the materials 
of the old nest you have just pulled to pieces and 
try to reconstruct it properly. I have a nice pres- 
ent for the boy or girl who can do so successfully. 
The nests are very often to be found on the ground in a meadow or 
wood-lot; frequently they are hidden in bushes. Sometimes they are 
far from a building of any kind, and, again, they may be very near a 
human habitation. At a summer resort in the mountains of North Caro- 
lina I once found that a pair of Song Sparrows had built their nest in 
a little cavity on the edge of a small terrace, directly in front of a hotel 
veranda, where a hundred guests came and went continually. 
The Song Sparrow’s eggs number four or five, and are usually bluish- 
white. with many brown markings distributed thickly over the surface. 
This beloved bird is, as its name implies, one of the most admirable 
and delightful of American songsters. Ernest Ingersoll has written pleas- 
antly of this characteristic in his book Wild Life of Orchard and Field : 
“During the winter,” as he says, “the Song Sparrow remains, quiet 
and busy, along the edges of the woods on warm hillsides, in company 
with the Spotted Woodpeckers and Snow-birds, or associates with the 
fowls in the barn-yard for a share of the housewife’s bounty. But as 
the March snow melts, and the sun sends genial warmth to awaken the 
buds, he mounts the topmost twigs of the brush-pile whose labyrinths 
Nest 
and Eggs 
