Field Sparrow. 147 



tions early in the spring may be somewhat confused by 

 finding several of the sparrows which look and act much 

 alike. The tree sparrow, the field sparrow, and the chip- 

 ping sparrow are apt to be confused by the novice. The 

 tree sparrow is a winter resident in this region, and can 

 be studied earlier in the year, before the two similar 

 species make their appearance, and thus it can be easily 

 separated from the others by studying it alone. It usually 

 retires toward the north as the others appear among us 

 from their southern winter homes. The chipping spar- 

 row seldom is found nesting and resorting far away from 

 dwellings. The chippy has a black bill and its cap or 

 crown is very dark, almost black, while the field sparrow 

 has a red bill, and its cap is more reddish. By giving 

 attention to these traits and markings, and to others 

 mentioned in the books of descriptive ornithology, we 

 believe that observing boys and girls can soon become 

 acquainted with these similarly-appearing sparrows, and 

 then their ways can be separately studied. We have not 

 here mentioned the song sparrow, which is another small 

 sparrow arriving among us about the time when the others 

 appear, for its markings are so different, with its streaky 

 breast and small black spot forming a ''breastpin," that 

 it should not be mistaken for one of the others mentioned. 

 None of the three sparrows first mentioned has the streaks 

 on the under parts, in mature plumage. 



The home of the field sparrow is in the eastern United 

 States and southern Canada, ranging westward to the 

 edge of the great plains, and southward to the G-ulf States. 

 It is said to breed from the Gulf States northward through- 

 out its range, and spends its winters south of the thirty- 

 eighth parallel. It comes to us from its southern sojourn 

 soon after the middle of March, and from its arrival until 

 late in the fall its plaintive trills area feature of the scenes 

 amid which it resorts. Colonel Goss and Dr. Brewer both 

 state that the song of the field sparrow is not powerful, 

 but the observations of the writer lead him to agree with 

 Eobert Eidgway in the opposite opinion. The latter 

 observer saj^s that in Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and 

 Yirginia, where he has listened to its song on countless 

 occasions, he has always regarded the song of the field 



