WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



of love which in spring prompts the males to seek 

 the tree- tops. 



His food is principally procured from the ground 

 and among the branches and leaves of the wild 

 shrubbery, and consists of blossoms, seeds, berries, 

 and insects, varying according to the season and 

 the age of its nestlings. Early in spring he is, as 

 Mr. Gentry puts it, "a vegetarian,'' living upon 

 the blossoms of the red maple and other early- 

 blooming forest trees, green ginger - berries, and 

 the seeds of vegetables, in search of which it fre- 

 quents the kitchen-gardens, and associates with 

 the noble fox-sparrows and chattering goldfinches. 

 As warm weather advances, the song - sparrow 

 leaves the gardens, and seeks, in wilder spots, less 

 of vegetable and more of animal food — eating straw- 

 berries, wild cherries, raspberries, etc., now and then 

 as a relish; but depending for regular fare upon 

 the young of the insect world just hatching out. 

 It would be quite impracticable to enumerate all 

 the kinds eaten; probably everything palatable 

 is welcome. I remember one June day watching 

 one little fellow industriously picking very minute 

 lice-Hke bugs from the under -side of the leaves 

 of an apple-tree. He seemed inordinately fond of 

 them, and swallowed twenty or thirty a minute, 



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