EASTERN SONG SPARROW 1501 



Behavior when foraging reflects the seasonal dietary preferences 

 already described. Eaton (1914) states that in summer song sparrows 

 cease to feed largely on the ground and sometimes forage for insects 

 among foliage as high as 20 and 30 feet, although usually among 

 bushes and grass. These birds scratch the ground by kicking simul- 

 taneously with both feet. Charles H. Blake writes of watching a 

 song sparrow catch winged termites as they emerged from their 

 subterranean colony in early June. 



Behavior. — Song sparrows are often furtive in manner, and Knight 

 (1908) gives a good description of the behavior of alarmed birds. He 

 states that they prefer to "work downward into the bushes with 

 bobbing tail, hopping along from twig to twig, or skulking through 

 the underbrush, grass and leaves. They do not fly, save from bush 

 to bush, unless closely pursued with evident intention to flush them 

 or do them harm." Witmer Stone (1937) speaks of "how well adapted 

 [song sparrows] are for a terrestrial life and how rapidly they can run, 

 mouse-like, through the grass." 



Despite their sometimes secretive behavior, birds dwelling near 

 humans often develop considerable tameness. Forbush (1929) states 

 that they may be conditioned by feeding to come when called and tells 

 of one song sparrow that learned to associate the sound of a bell 

 with the fact that food was to be scattered and of another that learned 

 to peck at a window to be fed. 



The behavior of females on the nest is often cryptic, according to 

 Knight (1908). Sometimes the bird sits until almost stepped on; at 

 other times, when the male gives the alarm, she slips off, sneaks a few 

 feet away, and then begins to call. Johnston (1957) in long experience 

 with the shrub-nesting race, samuelis, saw only one case of rodent-like 

 distraction display. Both adults protest intrusions into the vicinity 

 of the nest, and Forbush (1929) describes the posture of nest defense 

 as involving "outspread wings and depressed tails." This threat, if 

 unsuccessful, may be replaced by attack. Birds as large as the 

 catbird and hairy woodpecker happening to approach the nest are 

 attacked, and Forbush mentions a successful attempt by a song 

 sparrow to drive five house sparrows from a feeding station. 



Bathing, states Forbush, occurs "during the day whenever oppor- 

 tunity offers" and, if there is water, "every night after sunset." Pud- 

 dles, including salt water along the shore, are used; and the song 

 sparrow is one of many species that bathe in drops of water on grass 

 and leaves by striking the foliage with the wings and body and thus 

 throwing water on the plumage. 



Scratching of the head by song sparrows is "indirect," with the 

 foot brought over the wing to reach the head, and Hailman (1959) 



