126 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [1891 



It may be found along the roadsides as well as in the hedgerows 

 and bushes, and often perched on a tree or telegraph wire, which 

 latter seems to be one of its favorite resting places. There it 

 utters its few simple notes in a rather faint and high-pitched 

 tone, differing entirely from those of the song sparrow. The 

 nest is chiefly composed of fine grass stems, lined with horse- 

 hair. The eggs are white, usually tinged with green and spotted 

 with rusty brown. 



In January last the writer obtained one specimen which was 

 partly an albino. The top of its head, some of the larger and 

 smaller feathers of the wing covertb and a few of those on the 

 back and in the tail were snow-white. No definite pattern of 

 color was here observable, but the markings were irregularly 

 distributed over the upper part of the body. 



Spizella socialis (Wils.). Chipping Sparrow. 



This lovely little species is quite as common as the field spar- 

 row. It arrives here in March and remains throughout October. 

 According to my own observations it does not winter here, since 

 the most eager search has failed to yield me a single specimen 

 during that season. This bird is more familiar and attached to 

 man than any of our other species. While there are others 

 which live in as close proximity to houses, and still others which 

 lose their shyness when driven by hunger, our bird may be seen 

 at excursion resorts and picnic grounds hopping around our feet 

 searching for crumbs without showing the least fear, and this it 

 does at a time when there is plenty of food everywhere, and no 

 occasion for the bird to abandon its natural shyness and timidity. 

 Its song is a pleasant warble, not so faint as that of the field 

 sparrow. The nest is composed chiefly of slender grass stems, 

 occasionally mixed with threads, and is lined with horse-hair. 

 We have found it on apple trees in the orchard, likewise beside 

 the road on a blackberry bush not more than three or four feet 

 from the ground, and once attached to a porch. We have 

 observed the female incubating in the month of August. The 

 eggs are usually four or five in number, of a light greenish blue 



