202 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



to breed chiefly in the middle and northern States. Like 

 its closely allied relative, the field sparrow, the chippy 

 comes to us at the opening of spring, soon after the middle 

 of March. It takes up the chant which the retiring j unco 

 so persistently utters in the latter days of March and in 

 early April, and their rattling trills are so nearly alike 

 that it will require discriminating ears of wideawake boys 

 and girls to avoid confusing their songs. The junco, or 

 snowbird, however, sings with more force and spirit, and 

 sometimes with more variation. The snowbird begins to 

 sing some days before the sparrow appears, hence observ- 

 ant students of the birds can first become acquainted with 

 the trill of the junco, and when the chippy begins his 

 shrill rattle it can be readily separated from the music of 

 the snowbird, which will sometimes continue to sing until 

 the middle of April. The snowbird, or slate-colored junco, 

 as the books call it, and the chipping sparrow sing from 

 similar situations, usually selecting a perch near the sum- 

 mit of an obliquely ascending branch of a small tree, 

 sometimes in a large one, remaining contentedly lor many 

 minutes, if they are not disturbed. The sparrow throws 

 its tiny head upward, and its little throat can be seen to 

 flutter with the frequent utterances of its sharp, monoto- 

 nous trill, consisting of the syllable " chip," repeated rap- 

 idly for about four seconds, more rapidly than I can count 

 with it. From the repetition of the note in its song our 

 little friend has received its name of chipping sparrow. 



These familiar birds can be seen hopping along the 

 roadside, usually in pairs, probably searching for the 

 hairy materials they use in building their tiny habitations. 

 Their attachment is remarkable, and during the mating 

 and nesting season many charming little love-scenes can 

 bo witnessed by the bird-gazer. They frequently resort 

 to the hedges near towns along railroads, and the tele- 

 graph or telephone wires ofl'er them convenient places for 

 sitting and singing. Both birds of the pair often perch 

 near each other, and it is no unusual thing for them to 

 sidle nearer and occasionally rub noses in a loving man- 

 ner, "billing" without "the cooing." The male is a won- 

 derfully polite little fellow, and he would not think* of 

 eating any tid-bit he secures without first p>a8sing it to 



