SPIZELLA DOMESTICA : CHIPPING SPARROW. 267 



While Spring still hesitates, with lingering doubts 

 of the reception to be given by New England, — for 

 patches of snow still cling to the shaded hollows and 

 north-facing slopes, — one may hear from some bush 

 or tree by the wayside a rapid succession of sharp 

 sounds, as if bits of flint were being chipped by striking 

 against each other. This is the way the bird-medley 

 soon to follow is opened by the familiar bird who takes 

 his name from such peculiar quality of voice — ar clever 

 little fellow in a jaunty red cap, with a good deal of 

 self-possession if not self-assertion, and a great favor- 

 ite. Later in the season, when he has settled with his 

 mate at our very door, the children make Chippy's 

 acquaintance, peering into the maze of the shrub- 

 bery that climbs over the piazza, or into the heart of a 

 cedar bush, to discover the neat horse-hair nest there 

 snugly hidden. 



On the whole, the Sparrow family is not noted for 

 the elegance or the ingenuity of their architecture ; 

 nor are the many species well distinguished by their 

 styles of nest-building. The Hair-bird is one of the 

 most notable in these respects, making a much neater 

 fabric than usual, and one scarcely to be mistaken for 

 that of any other bird. It is a deep cup, with a smooth, 

 firm brim, almost invariably lined with horse-hairs, 

 and sometimes consisting chiefly or entirely of such 

 material ; usually, however, fine grasses and rootlets 

 form the substance of the walls and basement. The 

 location of the nest is also to some extent character- 

 istic. Chippy seldom, if ever, — and then only for a 

 freak, — nests on the ground, and not often in trees 

 of any size, bushes and vines being entirely to his 

 fancy. Becoming accustomed to the presence of man, 



