116 SONG SPAEEOW 



gypsy-moth caterpillars, and particularly affects 

 cutworms and army worms, two of our worst in- 

 sect pests. Combining insect with vegetable food 

 in this way, the Chippy does not find it necessary 

 to go as far south for his winter supplies as exclu- 

 sively insectivorous birds, and so we find him, in 

 company with other short-winged seed-eaters, win- 

 tering in the Gulf states and Mexico, while the 

 Swift and many of the Flycatchers go on to Cen- 

 tral America. As a family, the Sparrows are very 

 musical ; and though the Chippy is not a gifted 

 member of the choir, when he sits on a tree in the 

 sun, with his soft feathers fluffed up about him, 

 even his monotonous little trill has a cheery sum- 

 mer sound. 



Song Sparrow : Melospiza fasciata. 



Upper parts brown, streaked with black ; under parts white, 

 streaked with black, and with a dark central blotch on breast. 

 Length, about 6 inches. 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. Eastern North America ; breeds 

 from northern Illinois and Virginia north to Quebec and 

 Manitoba ; winters from southern Illinois and Massachusetts 

 to the Gulf states. No considerable area of the United States 

 is without one of the geographic races of the Song- Sparrow. 



The Song Sparrow is another of our common- 

 est birds. It is larger than Chippy, and its clan 

 instead of wearing red caps usually wear black but- 

 tons on their white-striped vests (Figs. 55, 58). 



Being vegetarians in winter, they are able to 

 abide in the north ; and even in Illinois and Mas- 



