14 BULLETIN 4 and 5 



The sparrows are seed eating birds, although in nesting sea- 

 son they eat insects and feed them to their young. All the spe- 

 cies have short conical bills with corners of the mouth abruptly 

 bent downward. These strong bills are especially adapted for 

 crushing seeds, and as it is the seeds of weeds upon which they 

 feed, they do the farmers untold good. Dr. Henshaw estimates 

 that the seed consumption of the sparrow family results in an 

 annual saving of one per cent of the value of crops. Hence, the 

 sparrows alone save the farmers ^35,000,000 in one year. How 

 are such facts obtained? By examination of birds' stomachs. 

 If they eat pests, thev are blessings, if they eat blessings they are 

 pests. If you know what a bird eats, you know what he is. 



Aside from the economic value of sparrows, there is an- 

 other relation which these birds bear to us, the aesthetic, of 

 which I shall now speak. To appreciate this value we must 

 know the different birds, know them by their plumage, their 

 form, their song. 



I am sure that almost everyone knows the dear little Song 

 Sparrow that helps to open the season of song in March, and his 

 voice is one of the last to be heard in the fall. He is easily 

 known by the stripes on his breast, and the one large spot in the 

 center. ' 



The Chipping Sparrow is very common, and perhaps the 

 most domesticated of all. He is smaller than the Song Sparrow 

 and has a chestnut crown and a white line over the eye. He is 

 also a common visitor at our door and has been persuaded to 

 come mside by crumbs placed just over the threshold. He has a 

 simple little trill which answers for a song, but which really sounds 

 more like the buzzing of a locust. 



Soon after the Chippy leaves us in the fall, a similar bird but a 

 larger sparrow makes his appearance coming troni the north to 

 spend the winter. This is the Tree Sparrow. He has a chestnut 

 crown, two white bars across the wing and an indistinct black 

 spot in the center of the breast. These birds live in the winter 

 entirely upon weed seeds. It is estimated that each bird consumes 

 about one fourth ounce a day. There were large flocks of them 

 here last winter and for several weeks before they left for the north 

 in April, we enjoyed their sweet little songs. They associate 

 freely with the Juncos and do not hesitate to visit dooryards and 

 even door steps. 



The Vesper Sparrow is a ground living, streaky sparrow with 

 the bend of the wing chestnut, and the outer tail feathers white 

 which show distinctly as the bird flies ahead of you. His song 

 is quite like the Song Sparrow, but finer and more plaintive. It 



