an A very prolific English sparrow inhab- 
^ ited one of my bird boxes last Spring. 
Her first set was six eggs, the last one 
laid being rather light colored. I took 
these, and she immediately begun and 
v^laid another set of six, the last egg being 
very pale. I took these, and she laid one 
almost pure white egg and gave up the 
^ contest. 0.& O, Vll.Jul. 1882. p./4^/ 
Last year I found 
a House Sparrow’s nest with four eggs, 
two of which were speckled all over ; the 
third was almost destitute of spots, and the 
fourth was pure white. This is the second 
with white eggs. 
ty/.fS. i’lryooCtx.. A4#VbO>-l'V w ~ ,/V ■ ■ 
C.&O. VJ11. July. 188 3 . p. rf. 
As for 
House Sparrows , there is no accounting 
for the places they choose or number of 
eggs laid. A pair took possession this 
season of a hole where a Downy Wood- 
i pecker had a nest last year and have 
raised a brood there . — Snowdon Howland. 
O.&O. Vlll.Jan.l883.p f 
Enut/ish s~p \ RRiiffs Buikdino in Trees, &c.— During 
the past season the English Sparrows in this vicinity have 
built in trees to a limited extent. I saw two very bulky 
nests in the upper branches of a young elm, and while out 
early one morning in June watching a pair of these birds 
as they were constructing their nest, I was accosted by a 
good-natured Irishman, who, after he had learned what I 
was about, said : “ Do ye know where the Jabbers build?” 
I was puzzled to know what he meant by “ Jabbers,” and 
so intimated. He explained by saying, “ Did ye niver mind 
\ the birds with the long bakes (beaks) that they be all the 
I time jabbiri into the trees?” I suggested that he might 
| have seen a Woodpecker, and he said, “Is that the name 
| 0 f > em ? I call ’em the Jabbers.” I think we could forgive 
' the “Jabbers” if they would jab their beaks into a few Eng- 
| lish Sparrows, just for diversion. This last word reminds 
me of a remark recently made in my presence by an old 
I lady who lives on a farm not many miles away. While 
i scolding about a reckless son, she said, “ I can’t get him to 
| shoot the pesky Hen Hawks, but he’ll go out any time and 
ij shoot Chimney Swallows for devotion.”— C. E. P. 
O.&O. IX.Oct.IBU i.p.yiiT 
Passer Domesticus. May 23, I saw a 
nest of the English Sparrow between a 
window sash and the blind. It was in the 
window of a chamber that was not used 
and the birds had entered through the 
shutters, made their bulky nest, and reared 
their young unmolested. — Chas. Edward 
Prior. 
-A/ylpt, 
r , G>c-> TS^ls. 
O.&o. IX. Aug. 18^4:. p J6I. 
S parrow Building in an Oriole’s Nest. E. M. Has- 
brouck , Syracuse , N. Y., gives a description of a find he 
made a few years since and asks if any one else has met 
with a similar occurrence. He also refers to “ A Nonde- 
I script,” but as he says the nest and eggs “ have disappeared 
i from all collections” we fear it is too late to find out 
j whether the bird was “a species hitherto unobserved” or 
not - O.&O. IX. Feb. 1884. 
Curious Nesting Place. — It was recently 
found necessary to repair the chimney of the Os- 
born Mill, at Fall River, Mass., which is 125 feet 
high. In removing the casting and loose bricks 
Mr. Crow, the contractor, found a Sparrow’s nest, 
( Passer domestical which contained one egg.— 
Jos. M. Wade, Boston, Mass. O.&O. X, AUg. ISO • P • / ^ 
The strangest nesting place of a bird that 
I have ever seen was one of an English Spar- 
row, noticed last June. On a crossbar on a 
telegraph post hangs an old oil can, in the bot- 
tom of w’hich is a rust- eaten hole, and through 
this the Sparrows found an entrance, made 
their nest, and raised their young without 
molestation, and undiscovered by any other 
person, though it was on the side of the rail- 
way and near the main street. — W. L. K. 
Q.& O.Vol.18. June, 1893 p.86 
A New Trait of the English Sparrow. 
Last summer I was told by a young clergy- 
man that when he was in college he used to 
watch a pair of Robins that had a nest in a 
bush below liis window. There were two eggs 
in the nest. One day he looked out of the 
window and saw in place of the eggs two downy 
young birds. A day or two after he was again 
at the window with a companion, when they 
perceived that there was only one young bird 
in the nest. While they were wondering why 
one should have disappeared, the old Robins 
flew away to get food, when a flock of English 
Sparrows came to the nest, and pecked and 
scratched the remaining young one until it 
was dead, finally lifting it bodily and dropping 
it to the ground below. The young men hur- 
ried down below the nest, but the young 
Robin was dead and very much mutilated, 
while the Sparrows had disappeared. 
I have always thought the English Spar- 
row a miserable scamp, but the above trait is a 
surprise, and a new source of indignation 
against this pest. Henry L. Beatlel. 
New Brighton, Staten Island, N. Y. 
vSvJV, Deo, 1800, 
