THE CHIPPING SPARROW 



WHEN the true flycatcher catches a fly, it is 

 quick business. There is no strife, no pursuit, 

 one fell swoop, and the matter is ended. Now 

 note that yonder little sparrow is less skilled. It is 

 the chippy, and he finds his subsistence prop- 

 erly in various seeds and the larvae of insects, 

 though he occasionally has higher aspirations, 

 and seeks to emulate the pewee, commencing and 

 ending his career as a flycatcher by an awkward 

 chase after a beetle or " miller." He is hunting 

 around in the grass now, I suspect, with the de- 

 sire to indulge this favorite whim. There ! the 

 opportunity is afforded him. Away goes a little 

 cream-colored meadow-moth in the most tortuous 

 course he is capable of, and away goes Chippy 

 in pursuit. The contest is quite comical, though 

 I dare say it is serious enough to the moth. The 

 chase continues for a few yards, when there is a 

 sudden rushing to cover in the grass, then a 

 taking to wing again, when the search has be- 

 come too close, and the moth has recovered his 

 wind. Chippy chirps angrily, and is determined 

 not to be beaten. Keeping, with the slightest 

 effort, upon the heels of the fugitive, he is ever 



