318 The Chipping Sparrow 



from the door. It is an unobtrusive bird, and really has no human ene- 

 mies, so far as I am aware. One may love or may ignore the Chipping 

 Sparrow, but where is the person who dislikes this friendly bird ? It does 

 not get in the way ; it does not fill roof-gutters with dry leaves and trash ; 

 and its simple, chipping notes are so low that they would never awaken 

 one of a morning. It is no wonder that it has been called the "Social" 

 Sparrow. 



I have always liked the Chipping Sparrow, it is so like a good woman 

 I once knew, who, though very plain and somewhat unimaginative, was 

 nevertheless considerate, thoughtful, and very gentle. Many persons did 

 not notice her, but those who did always spoke kindly of her. 



This is one of the birds that has greatly increased since white men 



settled the country, for the cultivation of fields and 



Increase gardens has furnished it just the proper amount of 



protection, and an abundance of the right kind of food. 



The trees and bushes that men plant in their orchards and on their lawns 



provide splendid places for the Chipping Sparrow to build its nest. 



The cradle for the babies is a very dainty structure. It is made of 

 dry grasses, with a few small twigs to strengthen and support it. In the 

 center of this one will find a simooth cup lined deeply with horsehair, 

 where four or five pale blue or greenish eggs are laid. Scattered about 

 over the surface of the shell, but particularly numerous around the 

 larger end, is a sprinkling of black or brownish spots. A variety of 

 situations is chosen, so that we may find a nest near the end of a swaying 

 bough or saddled among the twigs of a lower branch of a shade-tree 

 by the street. Often, the birds choose cedar-bushes or other thick shrubs, 

 and in such cases the nest may be only three or four feet from the ground. 

 -I recall one pair that built their home in a clematis-vine, which grew 

 on the veranda-trellis. Here, day by day, we used to watch the parent- 

 birds bring food to their little ones, and it is astonishing how much labor 

 it requires to keep four baby Chipping Sparrows supplied with all the 

 food they will eat. Every two or three minutes one of the parents would 

 flit into the clematis-vine with food for the young. 



Clematis-Vine ^ * ar as we cou ^ te ^> ^ appeared that the male at- 

 tended to the duties of caring for the young fully as 

 much as did his mate. This, truly, is the correct way to do ; but not all 

 father-birds follow this custom. 



One of the little Chipping Sparrows seemed to be stronger than the 

 others, and usually raised his head a little higher than his brothers and 

 sisters, and opened his mouth a little wider in an attempt to get all the 

 good things which his parents brought to eat. I fear much of the time 

 he received more than his share. When a little later, however, the young 

 had left the nest, and were learning to fly, this selfish youngster received 

 no more than the others in fact, on more than one occasion we saw the 

 mother pass him by to give food to a brother or sister that sat farther 

 along on the same limb. 



