238 



VERTEBRATA 



ing large quantities of grain and being guilty of driving 

 away the song birds, whose nests it robs. An examination 

 of five hundred and twenty-two stomachs made by the 

 Department of Agriculture showed that over three fourths 

 of the birds had eaten no insects whatever, while the others 



FIG. 271. Eggs of the English sparrow showing variation in color. Photograph 

 natural size. 



had devoured but few insects, most of which were beneficial 

 ones. The nests, untidily built of hay, stems, and feathers, 

 in clinging vines and trees, should be destroyed. 



The chipping sparrow, called chippy or hair bird, is dis- 

 tinguished from the English sparrow by a gray stripe over 

 the eye and a blackish -brown one apparently through it. 

 The value of this bird, rearing two broods each season, is 

 shown by Weed and Dearborn, who watched the parent 

 birds come to the nest almost two hundred times in one day, 



