June 26.’ Visited and tho)(roughly examined the meadowthis morn- 
- ^ 
ing { 10 to II.'30 A.-'M.’) Day clear and hot ^Yith strong wind^ 
No bird calling. The meadow is about an acre in extents It 
is intersected by a brook Eind several ditches filled with perfect¬ 
ly fresh water, which extends back over a part of the adjoining 
marsh, most of which ,however, is damp rather than positively 
wetv Fire has cleared the ground of all accumulation of last 
year*s dead grass and the growth of this season is so short (about 
12 inches) and sparse that the smallest Sparrow coxild not conceal 
itself anywhere except along the brook and ditches vrhere there is 
a narrow belt of cover formed of old and new grass and a few 
cat-tail flags, and,in a small area outside the fence that bounds 
the meadow and in the rear of a stable, where grass, ferns and 
tall weeds grev; in rank profusion about some stagnant pools and 
heaps of stable refuseand other rubbish. 
The bird sang last night well out in the meadov^ v/here the grass 
is scantiest*? About midway between its singing station and 
the rubbish corner above described ,in a place as bare and exposed 
as any that the meadow affords^ I found this morning a nest 
imlike any that I have ever seen before.- It was a domed struc- 
ture somewhat resembling a field mouse's but flatter and broarder 
the materials coarser eind more skillfully and substantially 
arranged, being firmly interwoven about the edges with the stems 
of the surrounding grasses*? The dome composed wholly of the 
stalks and blades of coarse grasses, perfectly dry and bleached 
to a dull yellowish hue, vms a very conspicous object among the 
sparse green grass by which it was surrounded, looking not imlike 
the crown of a weather-stained straw hat lying on the ground with 
the opening down,? I wlaked slowly around this nest three times 
before I discovered its entrance ,for the slightly arched roof 
seemed at first to unite everywhere v/ith the sides and bottoms 
But at length ,by stooping low I detected affr opening barely 
