40 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis 



inimbor of wild ])laiits and treos which keep their seed 

 throuLrli tlie winter is ^J'^'J^tiT than tlio casual ()l)s<'rv.'r 

 woukl believe. Many of them are wi(h'sj)read species 

 well suited to form winter staples for irranivorous birds. 

 Like most visitors from the nortii the Tree Sparrows are 

 very active, lively birds. Even when feedinic they utter 

 a low note with a nnisical sound, and p:iven by many indi- 

 viduals at the same time produce a conversational ehirj)- 

 in^, so i^leasantly modulated as to sound like the expres- 

 sion of contented companionship. This habit is so much 

 like that of the Euroi)ean Tree Sparrow that it caused 

 the early European settlers to give the bird the name of 

 Tree Sparrow, otherwise a misnomer, since the bird from 

 Canada does not frequent trees at all, but seeks the 

 thickets for a retreat and i)rotection from weather and 

 enemies and makes its nest on or near the ground. To the 

 winter residents of the vicinity of St. Louis we must 

 add several more members of the S])arrow family, 

 though they occur in much smaller numbers than the Tree 

 Sparrows and Juncos. The more common of them is the 

 Song Sparrow, to be found chiefly along the "wet 

 weather branches" running through lields and ])astures 

 and usually bearing a fringe of tangled weeds and 

 grasses, thus forming an excellent retreat and feeding 

 ground in all kinds of weather. Among them are some- 

 times a few Swam]) Sparrows, but their true winter home 

 is from southern Missouri to the Clulf. A particular 

 pleasure is derived from a meeting with a ])arty of Fox 

 Sparrows in the bottoms of the rivers. They are likely to 

 srreet vou with a few musical notes even in January, and 

 you will see the musician on top of a low tree only a short 

 distance away. They are usually in (■omi)any of other 

 Sparrows, among which they ajtpear like big brothers. 

 White-throated Sjmrrows ar<' not rare, but they stick 

 to their seclusion in the heavy uiuh'rbrush of the forest, 

 while the White-crowned S]iarrow is to be looked for 



