TREE SPARROW 1157 



and a frequent repeater, this species has long been a favorite at banding 

 stations. Both at feeding stations and on the nesting territory they 

 are amiable and unaggressive, going their quiet way without the 

 nervousness and fussiuess of so many species. 



When flushed, tree sparrows swoop up into the nearest bush or 

 tree and perch quietly from 3 to 10 or 12 feet from the ground. If 

 the intruder stands quietly, they will soon forget him and return to 

 their endless banquet. During the migration they tend to bo more 

 shy and secretive, flushing sooner and flying greater distances. In 

 summer the incubating female flushes usuall}' at 4 to G feet, and 

 reappears a moment later, chipping with gentle anxiety from the top 

 of a scrub bii'ch a few feet away. The male, less nervous, less vocif- 

 erous in his protests at an intruder, is more du-ect and presumptive 

 about the nest. Even in feeding the young, when duties of the 

 sexes are identical, he can easily be distinguished by his perkier air, 

 erect crown, and more direct manner of approaching the nest, while 

 the female fusses and chips and finally creeps through the grasses to 

 her young. 



The tree sparrow's flight is unhurried, graceful, and slightly un- 

 dulating. In a normal day's foraging, the birds fly no great distances, 

 drifting through hedgerows or marshes, passing and repassing one 

 another in their irregidar advances. When traversing pronounced 

 distances across bare areas, the flock rises with a circling, swirling 

 movement to about 100 feet and sails off in ii-regular formation 

 to points unknown. 



When food is abundant or winds are biting, they may perch quietly 

 for 20 to 30 minutes at a time \\-ith neck d^a^^^l in, tips of the primaries 

 shghtly crossed over the rump, and contom- feathers fluffed to tAnce 

 their normal size, almost covering wings and legs. For such extended 

 rests a small limb in denser shrubbery is usually chosen, from three to 

 ten feet from the ground. For short stops any twig will do, usually 

 near the ground, but not infrequently in the higher tree tops. 



As their winter diet consists principaDy of weed seeds, tree sparrows 

 feed largely on the ground, scratching among the dry grasses or hopping 

 up at bent-over weed-heads. They are less mchned to dig than song 

 sparrows, and when food is plentiful will pass Hghtly over the more 

 obvious patches. Often one balances on a weed top, swaying in the 

 wind and scattering the seeds on the snow below, where they are 

 promptly appropriated by his companions. That one bird dehber- 

 ately performs this function for the others, as has been sentimentaUy 

 inferred, is unlikely. On the contrary, it has been observed that the 

 foraging birds rarely encroach within six inches of one another, and 

 maintain smaU and definite feeding territories for themselves. 



