1180 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 2 



often join company with other family groups of their own species and 

 also song sparrows and field sparrows until they form flocks of con- 

 siderable size. They wander about until they are ready to migrate 

 in late September or early October. In the North, migration usually 

 begins in early October and the last individuals are seen in late October 

 or the first weeks of November. 



Audubon (1841) was of the opinion that this species migrated by 

 day and he wrote: "These gentle birds migrate by day; and no sooner 

 has October returned and mellowed the tints of the sylvan foliage, 

 than flitting before you on the road, you see family after family moving 

 southward, chasing each other as if in play, sweeping across the path, 

 or flocking suddenly to a tree if surprised, but almost instantly return- 

 ing to the ground and resuming their line of march. At the approach 

 of night they throw themselves into thickets of brambles, where, in 

 company with several other species, they keep up a murmuring con- 

 versation until long after dark." 



While the feeding flocks may work their way south in the manner 

 Audubon described, Clarence Cottam (1953) describes large flocks of 

 night migrants at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. He says: "windy 

 night of October 23d * * * fully a thousand Chipping Sparrows were 

 swarming in the lighted areas from the statue of Freedom on the apex 

 of the dome, outward over the Senate and House wings and on to the 

 lighted terrace and walks surrounding the building. * * * the 

 floodlights * * * were turned off shortly after midnight * * *. By 

 1 :00 A.M. there was very little activity and the birds seemed to be 

 settled for the night. Consequently the observer left, but when he 

 returned about sunrise not a Chipping Sparrow could be found. * * * 

 on the night of October 29th * * * another huge flock was reported 

 at the Capitol." 



A. A. Saunders writes that "birds rarely sing in the fall, in late 

 September or early October." Forbush (1929) says that the young 

 males begin to sing in August. 



Winter. — Most chipping sparrows winter in the southern states. 

 A few stragglers often linger along the coast as far north as New 

 Hampshu'e and inland as far north as southern Ohio, Indiana, and 

 Oklahoma. They do not remain as far north as the field sparrow, 

 and they do not ordinarily winter in large numbers north of the North 

 Carolina coast. From this point on south, along the east coast, they 

 outnumber the field sparrow on the coastal plain, but are not so com- 

 mon on the piedmont and are generally absent from the western North 

 Carolina and South Carolina highlands. They become less common 

 down the Florida peninsula. They seem to avoid the southern tip of 

 Florida and the coast line of the gulf states, although they winter in 



