10 NORTH AMERlCAl^ BIRDS, 



of these birds, the female, from coming down to the ground to be fed with 

 crumbs, soon learned to take them on the flat branch of the flr near her nest, 

 and at last to feed from my hand, and afterwards from that of other members 

 of the family. Her mate, all the while, was comparatively shy and distrust- 

 ful, and could not be induced to receive his food from us or to eat in our 

 presence. 



This Sparrow is also quite social, keeping on good terms and delighting 

 to associate with other si^ecies. Since the introduction of the European 

 House Sparrow into Boston, I have repeatedly noticed it associating with 

 them in the most friendly relations, feeding with them, flying up with them 

 when disturbed, and imitating all their movements. 



The Chipping Sparrow has very slight claims to be regarded as one of our 

 song-birds. Its note of complaint or uneasiness is a simple chip, and its 

 song, at its best, is but a monotonous repetition of a single note, sounding 

 like the rapid striking together of two small pebbles. In the bright days of 

 June this unpretending ditty is kept up incessantly, hours at a time, with 

 only rare intermissions. 



The nest of this bird is always in trees or bushes. I have in no instance 

 known of its being built on the ground. Even at the Arctic regions, where 

 so many of our tree-builders vary from this custom to nest on the ground, 

 no exceptional cases are reported in regard to it, all its nests being upon 

 trees or in bushes. These are somewhat rudely built, often so loosely that 

 they may readily be seen througli. Externally they are made of coarse 

 stems of grasses and vegetable branches, and lined with the hair of the 

 larger animals. 



These birds are devoted parents, and express great solicitude whenever 

 their nests are approached or meddled with. They feed their young almost 

 exclusively with the larvae of insects, especially with young caterpillars. 

 When in neighborhoods infested with the destructive canker-worm, they will 

 feed their young with this pest in incredible numbers, and seek them from a 

 considerable distance. Living in a district exempt from this scourge, yet but 

 shortly removed from them, in the summer of 1869, I noticed one of these 

 Sparrows with its mouth filled with something which inconvenienced it to 

 carry. It alighted on the gravel walk to adjust its load, and passed on to its 

 nest, leaving two canker-worms behind it, which, if not thus detected, would 

 have introduced this nuisance into an orchard that had previously escaped, 

 showing that though friends to those afflicted they are dangerous to their 

 neighbors. This Sparrow is also the frequent nurse of the Cow Blackbird, 

 rearing its young to the destruction of its own, and tending them with 

 exemplary fidelity. 



Their eggs, five in number, are of an oblong-oval shape, and vary greatly 

 in size. They are of a bluish-green color, and are sparingly spotted about 

 the larger end with markings of umber, purple, and dark blackish-brown, 

 intermingled with lighter shadings of faint purple. The largest specimen 



