296 LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



species is composed externally of coarse straws, 

 fine roots, strips of bark, and horse-hair, and is 

 lined with the fur of small animals and fine mosses. 

 It has an external diameter of four and a half 

 inches, and a depth of two, and posseses a deep 

 and capacious cavity for the size of the bird. 



The eggs are described by the same authority, 

 as rounded-oval, and marked with reddish-brown 

 spots upon a creamish yellowish-white background, 

 which are confluent about the larger portion of the 

 egg, but seldom covering either end. They 

 measure .75 of an inch in length and 60 in breadth. 



Spizella monticola, Baird. 



The Tree Sparrow in some sections of the 

 country is a very common winter resident. In 

 Eastern Pennsylvania it is less abundant than 

 Melospiza melodia which is our commonest species. 

 In small numbers it consorts with the Song Spar- 

 row and Snow Bird, arriving with the latter and 

 like it is restricted during the autumnal months to. 

 open fields and the borders of thickets. In these 

 situations it manifests a certain degree of timidity, 

 but as autumn advances into winter and there is 

 a growing scarcity of food-stuffs, it covets the com- 

 panionship of man, when it becomes exceedingly 

 tame and familiar, even venturing into outbuildings 

 for the gratification of the cravings of hunger. 



Its food consists of the berries of Juniperus Vir- 

 giniana, J. communis, Vibiwnum Lentago, Lonicera 

 periclymenum, and the seeds of divers weeds and 



