316 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



greater number of individuals disappear between the ioth and 20th of 

 November, a considerable number sometimes remaining until the 5th of 

 December. As a summer resident it is fairly common throughout the 

 central portions of the Adirondack wilderness except in the depths of the 

 forest. I suppose that this sparrow is the most generally distributed and 

 most abundant of all the species of the family nesting in the State. 



Haunts and habits. The haunts of the Song sparrow are the gardens, 

 hedgerows, bushy banks, brooksides, edges of groves, fence lines, but 

 never, as far as my experience goes, in the depths of the forest nor in the 

 midst of open fields. I have frequently found its nest in a meadow 3 or 

 4 rods from the hedgerow, and also in small openings in the midst of the 

 woods even if the clearing is only a few rods in diameter, but it does not 

 care for the shady depths of the forest, and prefers always to live near dense 

 shrubbery to which it may retreat in case of danger. They feed largely 

 upon the ground throughout the fall, winter and spring, like most members 

 of the family subsisting on weed seeds of various kinds, preferring most 

 of all seeds of the pigeon grass, amaranth, ragweed and goosefoot. In this 

 way it does immense good to the agriculturist. During the summer it 

 feeds itself and its young largely upon young grasshoppers, smooth cater- 

 pillars, beetles and May flies. At this season of the year it hunts its prey- 

 sometimes 20 or 30 feet from the ground among the foliage of trees, but 

 mostly among the low bushes and grass. The flight of the Song sparrow 

 is more jerky than that of any of our other native species, its tail pumping 

 continually as it flies for cover when disturbed in the field. Its call note 

 is a simple chip of rather metallic quality. When its nest is approached 

 the chip becomes more insistent and sharper. Its song is uttered during 

 every month of the year. If one visits its haunts in January or February 

 its cherry note may often be heard, especially on sunny mornings. This 

 song is endless in its variation, but usually begins with two or three loud, 

 full notes, descending in a more or less confused chipper or trill, a song 

 familiar to every child who has been in the country. The singer Usually 

 chooses a perch of low elevation, not during his work of hunting seeds 



