BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 303 



as it destroys May beetles, leaf hoppers, and sawflies.. It 

 eats more useful insects than some other Sparrows, and takes 

 a good many spiders, some ants, and some earthworms. It 

 also eats the seeds of many weeds, but feeds largely on the 

 seeds of grasses and a little grain, mostly oats. A dozen of 

 these Sparrows collected in a wheat iBeld had eaten no Avheat, 

 but were feeding on weed seed. 



The Field Sparrow, though less valuable to the farmer than 

 some other species, is useful, and fills a place of its own. 



Chipping Sparrow. Chippy. Chipper. Chip Bird. Hair Bird. 



tip izelld sucialis . 



Length. — Five to five and one-half inches. 



Adult. — Crown bright reddish-brown ; back brown, dark-streaked; a light-gray 



line over the eye, a blackisli line through it ; cheeks and luider i)arts light 



gray or pale ash ; tail slightly notched. 

 Young. — Breast, sides, and top of head streaked. 

 Nest. — Lined Avith hair; in a bush, vine, or tree. 

 Eggs. — Light bluish, with a ring of dark spots around the larger end. 

 Season. — April to October. 



This is the little dooryard bird that nests in the apple trees 

 about the house, and picks up crumbs on the old stone door- 

 step. It is common in village dooryards, 

 along the roads, in orchards, pastures, 

 and particularly in gardens and plowed 

 lands. It holds the distinction of beino: 

 the most familiar and useful of all Spar- 

 rows in the yard and garden. Unlike 

 some other Sparrows, it is often found 



Fig. 134. — Chipping 



far from bushy coverts, in the very cen- sparrow, about oneimif 



, /> 1 1 x; 1 T natural size. 



ter ot plowed nelds. 



The song of the Chipping Sparrow is a mere string of dry 

 chipfi, sometimes repeated very rapidly and almost running 

 into a trill, sometimes more slowly. On a spring morning 

 the sound of the distant birds answering one another in dif- 

 ferent keys gives an impression like the rising and falling 

 of the breath of a slee})er in the fields. Occasionally some 

 talented bird modulates its usual song, "giving a somewhat 

 more musical, varied rendition, which suggests some of the 

 songs of Warblers. The ordinary notes are a variety of 



