194: TREE SPARROW AND REDPOLL. 



The bird's cheery twitter is as welcome as a ray of sun- 

 light on a cloudy day. 



With the Juncos we may often find a company of 

 Tree Sparrows or Winter Chippies. They resemble our 



Tree Sparrow familiar Chipping Sparrow, but the 

 Spizetta monticoia. blackish dot in the center of their 



Plate XLIX. breasts is a good distinguishing mark. 

 Then, too, the true Chippies all leave for the South in 

 November, while the Winter Chippies come in October 

 and remain until April. 



Tree Sparrows are sociable birds, with apparently the 

 best of dispositions. They are usually found in small 

 companies, each member of which seems to have some- 

 thing to say. Watch them feeding on an old weed stalk 

 left uncovered by the snow. It bends beneath the weight 

 of half a dozen birds, but, far from attempting to rob one 

 another, they keep up a conversational chatter bespeaking 

 the utmost good fellowship. Too-la-it, too-la-it, each one 

 calls, and I have only to remember this note to bring 

 clearly to mind a bright winter morning with the fresh 

 snow crystals sparkling in the sunshine, and in the dis- 

 tance a tinkling chorus of Tree Sparrows at breakfast. 



Another winter associate of the Junco's, and an inti- 

 mate friend of the Tree Sparrow's, is the Redpoll, Red- 

 Bedpoll PH Linnet, or, as he is sometimes 



AcantUs Unaria. called, Red -capped Chippy. The Red- 

 Plate L. po ]| negts in tlie far N or th ? and the 



extent of his southern journeys depends very much upon 

 the supply of food he finds in his winter wanderings. 

 When there are seeds in abundance north of the United 

 States, we do not see many of these birds, but if the 

 larder fails they may come into New England in great 

 numbers, and a few may venture as far south as Yirginia. 

 One can not tell, therefore, when to expect them, but it 

 is well to be on the lookout from November to March. 



