128 



THE WESTERN CHIPPING SPARROW. 



NOT all birds are fitly nanicil. exun in the "ininuitalile Latin." bnt this 

 one has a very accurate title in Spi::clla sdcinlis aricoiicc^, which we may freely 

 translate as the fricmU\ Utile sf^arrmi' of flic desert. An obscure little fellow 

 he is to eye, a skit dmie in faded brcjwns, with a chestnut crown which still 

 does not differentiate the owner from a withered corymb in his native sage. 

 Of the desert he is, for there is no sage-brush wilderness too' dreary tO' boast 

 the presence of at least a few Chipping Sparrows. And friendly he is, be- 

 yond question, for there are few dooryards in the eastern part of the State 

 where this bird is not a trustful visitur; and his presence in western Wash- 

 ington is nearly coextensive with that of man. For altho the Chipping 

 Sparrow now abounds in the prairie region of Pierce and adjacent counties, 

 it is instructive to note that its plumage gives no evidence of resaturation, 



or of departure from the 

 bleached type, as would be 

 the case if it belonged to one 

 of the really "old families" 

 of Puget Sound 



Whatever the weather. 

 Chippy returns to us about 

 the 1 2th day of April, posts 

 himself <in the tip' of a lir 

 branch, like a brave little 

 Christmas candle, and pro- 

 ceeds to sputter, in the same 

 part. Of all homel\' s<iunds 

 the monotonous trill df the 

 W'estern Chipping Sparrow 

 is the most homely. — and 

 the most easily forgivable. 

 As music it scarcely ranks 

 above the rattle of cas- 

 tanets ; but the little singer 

 po'urs out his soul full earn- 

 estly, and his ardor often 

 leads him to> sustained eff i irt thrunut the sultrv In lurs when nmre brilliant 

 vocalists are sulking in the shade: and for this we come to prize his homely 

 ditty like the sound of plashing waters. 



Two Chipping Sparrow songs heard near Tacuma deserve s]")ecial 

 mention. One likened itself in our ears to a tool being ground on a small 

 emery wheel. The wheel has a rough place on its periphery which strikes 



Taken in Pierce Comily. Photo bi' the Aiitlor. 



JUST .\RRI\'ED. 



WESTERN CHIPPINC, SPARROW. ADULT MALE. 



a. So called for decades, but now lost to us thru the latest caprice of nomenclature. Vm-iuni ct 

 mutnbile scmfer .-I. O. U. Clieclc-List. 



