THE FOOD HABITS OF NEBRASKA BIRDS. 



229 



THE CHIPPING SPARROW. 



{Spizella socialis and S. s arizonae.) 

 Although a close relative of the Field Sparrow, which was 

 discussed in the 1903 report, the Chipping Sparrow is much 

 more sociable than that species, and during the nesting season 

 shows a decided preference for human company; but it lacks the 

 pretty song of its relative, and its "chip" and simple little song 

 are apt to become very monotonous. It is only fairly common 

 as a summer resident over eastern Nebraska, but is abundant 

 during migrations, when it is to be found in the fields and brush 

 rather than about the house. In the spring the Chipping 

 Sparrow is easily told by its bright red cap and the black line 

 through the eye, but in the fall the young are not so easily 

 recognized. 



The food habits of this species are very similar to those of the 

 Field Sparrow. Animal food amounts to thirty-eight per cent, 

 vegetable food to sixty-two per cent. Of the former sort three- 

 fourths are noxious insects of which grasshoppers (ten per cent). 



CHIPPING SPARROW. 



caterpillars (nine per cent), and beetles (eleven per cent) form 

 the bulk. The beetles eaten are of great variety, including 

 weevils (six per cent), leaf-beetles (two per cent) and predaceous 



