162 BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND AND EASTERN NEW YORK 



summer by its black bill and the black line through the 

 eye; in the fall Chipping Sparrows are often seen with 

 reddish-brown bills. There is more black in the Chipping 

 Sparrow's back and less reddish-brown, so that its back 

 looks darker. From a description of the Swamp Sparrow, 

 one might suppose that it resembles the Chipping Sparrow ; 

 as a matter of fact, the latter is so slender and its tail is 

 so long, that even if the two happened to come together 

 as migrants in the spring and fall, one ought to have no 

 difficulty in distinguishing them. 



Tree Sparrow. Spi&ella monticola 



6.36 



Ad. — Crown reddish-brown; back brownish, streaked with 

 black; wing-bars white; under parts pale gray; a dusky spot in the 

 centre of the breast ; sides tinged with reddish-brown. 



The Tree Sparrow is a common winter visitant in New 

 York and New England, appearing in October and leaving 



in April. Vb is even more nu- 

 merous as a migrant than in 

 winter. Tree Sparrows fre- 

 quent sheltered spots where 

 food and cover can be found ; 

 the edges of marshes, old fields 

 grown up to weeds, and dry 

 hillsides covered with ragweed 

 {Ambrosia) are favorite resorts. 

 A single bird is rare, and flocks 

 sometimes number a hundred. They scatter over the feeding- 

 ground, reaching up for the seeds, jumping for them, or even 

 lighting on the taller plants, and bending them down with 

 their weight. A snow-fall enables them to reap a harvest 

 from still taller plants, and their tracks now form a network 

 from one stalk to the other. 



Fig. 44. Tree Sparrow 



