1502 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part 3 



has observed song sparrows and other emberizines scratching the head 

 against perches. 



Anting has often been noted in song sparrows; Whitaker (1957) 

 has summarized the details. 



"Helping," i.e., the feeding of young both of other song sparrows 

 and of other species, has been noted several times and summarized 

 by Brackbill (1952) and Skutch (1961). Perhaps the most surprising 

 instance, reported by Brackbill, involved the cooperative building 

 and joint use of a nest by a pair of cardinals and a pair of song sparrows. 

 Both females incubated, the cardinal sometimes sitting on the sparrow. 

 The cardinal eggs succeeded, and all four adults fed the nestlings. 

 Forbush (1929) describes an instance in which two females laid a 

 total of eight eggs in one nest; one of these birds had its own nest 30 

 feet away but did not use it. The females took turns incubating, 

 and all eggs were said to have produced fledglings. 



The flight speed of song sparrows has been measured by O. P. 

 Pearson (1961) as 15.9 miles per hour and possibly as much as 21 

 miles per hour. 



Man well and Herman (1935) found that individual song sparrows 

 displaced and released in spring as much as 1 % miles returned quickly 

 to the point of capture; at an intermediate trapping station on the 

 presumed line of flight none were caught. 



Body temperatures of 64 individuals of the race euphonia averaged 

 about 109.6° F., varying 10° F. within the sample (Becker and 

 Stack, 1944). There is a considerable literature on song sparrow 

 weights; Mrs. K. B. Wetherbee (1934) gives many data. Mrs. Nice 

 (1935) lists an average weight of 21.3 grams for 267 adults. LeRoy 

 C. Stegeman (1955) reports weight fluctuation amounts at times to 



20 percent in 24 hours, with peak weights in the spring recorded in 

 the late morning and late afternoon. 



Voice. — Male song sparrows sing their variable repertoire not only 

 during the breeding season but at other times. Songs may be heard 

 in much of the breeding range during any month of the year (Saunders, 

 1947), and dawn singing on clear, cold mornings in January and 

 February is especially noticeable. Regular singing in spring begins 

 in Connecticut in late February or in March (Saunders, 1947) and 

 generally closes, for a time, in the third week of August (Saunders, 

 1948a). There follows a revival of song, beginning in Connecticut 

 on the average date of September 30 and continuing until November 



21 (average). Aretas A. Saunders, who is responsible for these dates, 

 writes (1948b): "This species is the most regular and dependable 

 fall singer of all our birds." 



Forbush (1929) states that the birds sing "no matter how very 

 stormy the weather" and sometimes even "in the darkness of night." 



