506 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



ing numbers all through the winter and until at least the middle of April, 

 after which it passes rapidly northward beyond our borders. Whether 

 this bird is less abundant in Michigan in winter than in the other northern 

 states we cannot say, but it is certain that during midwinter very few are seen 

 here compared with the thousands which winter in the New England states, 

 and, according to other observers, in Iowa and Nebraska. Apparently 

 the greater number pass entirely south of the state in winter, since the 

 species is much more abundant in November and March than at other 

 seasons. 



During its stay it feeds almost entirely upon grass seed and weed seed, 

 and examinations made by the U. S. Department of Agriculture show that 

 probably each bird consumes at least one-fourth of an ounce of such seed 

 per day. Upon this basis, counting ten Tree Sparrows to an acre, it has 

 been estimated that they destroy during a season, in the state of Iowa 

 alone, 1,750,000 pounds, which equals 875 tons, of weed seed (Beal, Farm- 

 ers Bulletin No. 54, p. 28). 



While with us it associates frequently with the Juncos, and is oftenest 

 found in flocks of 25 to 100 individuals. It has been reported to nest in 

 the northern part of the state, but there seems to be no evidence whatever 

 that this is the case. In fact, the bird is not known to nest within the 

 limits of the United States, but is a summer resident of Arctic and Sub- 

 arctic America, never remaining in Michigan through the summer. Wood 

 and Frothingham state that they saw a single one with a flock of Juncos in 

 Iosco county on August 6, 1904 (Auk, XX, 45). This is an extraordinarily 

 early record and seems likely to have been based on a mistaken identifica- 

 tion, as the specimen was not taken. 



The nest, in the far north, is placed either on the ground or in low bushes, 

 is composed of dry grasses, feathers, etc., and the eggs are three to five, 

 similar to those of the White-throated Sparrow, but averaging .75 by .58 

 inches (Ridgway). 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult (sexes alike) : Top of head, stripe behind eye, and often a short streak from base 

 of lower mandible, chestnut; rest of head and neck all round ash-gray, washed with brownish 

 at back of neck; middle of back and scapulars reddish brown, streaked with black; rump 

 and upper-tail coverts plain brownish-gray; under parts mostly plain, dull ash-gray, 

 browner on the sides and flanks, nearly white on the belly; middle of breast with a small 

 but distinct dusky spot; two conspicuous white wing-bars, and the tertiaries black with 

 wide rusty or chestnut margins, which often become pure white near the tips; tail-feathers 

 dark gray or dusky, unmarked excei^t for narrow white or whitish edgings on the outer 

 webs; upper mandible and tip of lower blackish; rest of lower mandible yellow; iris brown. 

 In autumn and in immature birds the lower parts are usually strongly washed with buff, 

 even on the belly and under tail-coverts. Young : Similar, but with top of head streaked 

 with blackish and brown, the sides of neck with narrow dark streaks, and the chest also 

 streaked with dusky. Length 6 to 6.50 inches; wing 2.80 to 3.10; tail 2.60 to 2.90. 



231. Chipping Sparrow. Spizella passerina paserina (5ec/t.). (560) 



Synonyms: Chippy, Chip-bird, Hair-bird, Hair Sparrow. — Fringilla passerina, Bech- 

 stein, 1798. — Fringilla socialis, Wils., Nutt., Aud.— Spizella socialis, Bonap., 1838, and 

 most recent authors. — ^Spizella domestica, Coues, 1875. Ridgw., 1881. 



Plate L. 



A small sparrow with reddish-brown crown, bordered just above the eye 

 by a gray streak, and with a black line through the eye. The under parts 

 are ashy gray without spot or streak. 



