1158 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 pakt 2 



In the early siunmer at Churchill they were seen, usually in pau-s, 

 feeding about the grassy edges of little pools and, not infrequently, 

 picking the fresh buds and catkins off the stunted willows and birches. 

 These they obtained either by perching on the branch or by hopping 

 up from the ground, sometimes to a height of several inches. Later, 

 when the young had hatched and the diet had changed to chiefly 

 animal food, the parents were seen gleaning caterpillars and small 

 insects among the leaves and branches of the nearby thickets. Oc- 

 casionally one darted into the air for a mosquito or moth, but these 

 forays were short, and if the prey escaped it was not ardently pm-sued. 



Water is as essential as food, and in winter when there are no open 

 pools, I have frequently watched tree sparrows about my station 

 swallowing snow, either from the ground or from the crotches of trees. 

 They enjoy bathing even in the coldest weather, nor are they con- 

 tent merely to wade, but hop to their middles and splash and duck and 

 flutter like diminutive duckUngs. 



While tree sparrows are gregarious at night as well as by day, they 

 seem to prefer a sohtary roost, for tramping through their haunts 

 frequently after dark I flushed only scattered individuals. I beheve 

 they prefer cattail marshes when these are available. Here they 

 creep into Uttle cavities on or near the ground, protected from storms, 

 "wind, and enemies. Weedy fields, corn shocks, and haystacks are 

 also popular. Dense growths of young white pine offer shelter not 

 unlike their northern home. A flock of a hundred or more I watched 

 near Ithaca, N.Y. usually assembled in the late afternoon in a weedy 

 corn patch, and at dusk drifted up the valley to a stand of young pines 

 over a half mile away. Stragghng in loose formation, yet with some 

 definiteness of purpose, they spread out over the w^hole area so that 

 only single individuals could subsequently be flushed. 



Voice. — Across the barrens of the North, the little song of the tree 

 sparrow rings as clear and sweet and simple as one who loves its 

 gentle ways could desire. Though quite different in pattern, its song 

 resembles that of the field sparrow in pitch and intensity, and it has 

 that silver, bell-hke quahty that is at the same time both plaintive and 

 serene. There is also a decided resemblance in accent and rhythm to 

 the final notes of the chestnut-sided warbler. In length its song 

 ranges from 3K to 4 seconds, "with an occasional roUicking variation 

 of only 1 Ys seconds. 



Some of the variations in my field note book are: tsee tsee-ah, tsi 

 tsit su; tsee tsee-ah, tsit sut sut; tsee tsee-ah, tsi tseedle-eedle-ah; tsee tsweee 

 tsi, tsi tswit su trtrtrtrtr (end a cHcking trill) (these are variations at a 

 single nest) ; tsi tsi tsweeeee, tswee iswee tswee tsunt tswit-sut, and a brief 

 warble-like tse-weet, tse-weet, tse-wi-tse-tse-tsweet. 



