270 
Saunders, The Ipswich Sparrow. 
fAuk 
LJuly 
"wich. These figures utterly fail to give any idea of the enormous 
difference in the quantity of material present in the nests of the 
Ipswich Sparrow, which are very thick-walled and substantial ; 
therefore I have weighed them and find that while two ordinary 
nests of the Ipswich Sparrow average 300 grains each, the nest of 
the Savanna weighs but no grains. 
Since returning from the island, a letter from the Superinten- 
dent informs me that they had (in July I think) a gale of 60 
miles an hour ! Such occurrences, coupled with a spring tempera- 
ture which inay be characterized as moderate to cool, explain the 
absolute necessity that these birds are under to build a heavy 
and compact nest. 
Dry localities were almost invariably selected as nesting sites, 
only two exceptions to this rule being noted, both on May 20 when 
I obtained a set of 4 eggs from a nest in low damp ground under 
long wiry rushes ; and found another nest near water but on drier 
ground among long grass, containing one addled egg, one egg 
almost hatched, and two newly hatched young. 
The birds were seldom close sitters, some of them leaving the 
nest as soon as an intruder was seen, judging from the fact that 
the eggs were so often found uncovered. Others would be seen 
to leave when I was still 15 to 20 yards distant and only the one 
that had built in the damp locality dared to remain till I got 
within 2 or 3 feet. Even the mother of the newly hatched young 
flew when I was 15 yards away but in that instance I was running, 
and I came over an eminence and down a grade towards her nest 
which was situated on a slight upward slope facing me and directly 
in my line of passage, and she could hardly be expected to await 
such an attack. It must be remembered that all upright objects 
appear disproportionately large on Sable Island from the lack of 
trees or other upright growths of any size. 
The eggs vary considerably both in size, shape and color. The 
two largest measure .81 x .64 and .84 x .59 in. and the two smallest 
•75 x -57 and -73 x - 6 3> the average of the eggs in the six sets in 
my possession being .79 x .60. 
But the variation in color is more surprising to me, perhaps 
because my limited series of Savanna’s show so little variation. 
Two sets resemble a common phase of the Vesper Sparrow, one 
