12 CHIPPING SPARROW. 



They arrive from the South about the middle of April, be- 

 gin to gather material for their nests in early May. They often 

 build in an apple or other fruit tree, placing the nests either 

 high or low, depending upon the size of the tree. The eggs 

 are deposited about June 1st, and the young make their ap- 

 pearance about the middle of the month. At this time the 

 Chipping Sparrows are nearly wholly insectivorous, gathering 

 large numbers of canker and current worms for their own food 

 and to supply their young. Thus far they are exceedingly 

 beneficial to mankind, but they are not always useful, for 

 they destroy quantities of honey bees for food, as I have my- 

 self witnessed many times. I once found twenty or more 

 nests in a single season in a small orchard, near which stood 

 several bee-hives and the sparrows probably fed their young 

 largely upon bees. They are sometimes called hair birds on 

 account of the horse hair with which they line their nests. 



Early in September the Chipping Sparrows gather in 

 large flocks in company with Field, Savannah, Vesper and 

 other Spnrrows, in cultivated fields in order to feed upon the 

 newly ripened seeds of weeds. All depart together for the 

 south in October. They remain all winter in the Southern 

 States. 



Song. The lay of the Chipping Sparrow, from which it 

 probably derives its name, consists of a series of rather un- 

 melodious chirps, but emitted in quite a lively manner, as the 

 bird sits perched in some conspicuous place, for like most 

 Sparrows, it never searches for food while singing, but gives 

 its exclusive attention to its musical efforts. 



