Brown, Olive or Grayish Brown, and Brown and Gray Sparrowy Birds 



reddish brown with black markings. Feet, which are black, 



have conspicuous, long hind claws or spur. 

 Female — Rusty gray above, less conspicuously marked. Whitish 



below. 

 ifaw^if—Circumpolar regions; northern United States ; occasional 



in Middle States ; abundant in winter as far as Kansas and 



the Rocky Mountains. 

 Migrations — Winter visitors, rarely resident, and without a fixed 



season. 



This arctic bird, although considered somewhat rare with us, 

 when seen at all in midwinter is in such large flocks that, before 

 its visit in the neighborhood is ended, and because there are so 

 few other birds about, it becomes delightfully familiar as it nimbly 

 runs over the frozen ground, picking up grain that has blown 

 about from the barn, when the seeds of the field are buried under 

 snow. This lack of fear through sharp hunger, that often drives 

 the shyest of the birds to our very doors in winter, is as pathetic 

 as it is charming. Possibly it is not so rare a bird as we think, 

 for it is often mistaken for some of the sparrows, the shore 

 larks, and the snow buntings, that it not only resembles, but 

 whose company it frequently keeps, or for one of the other long- 

 spurs. 



At all seasons of the year a ground bird, you may readily 

 identify the Lapland longspur by its tracks through the snow, 

 showing the mark of the long hind claw or spur. In sum- 

 mer we know little or nothing about it, for, with the coming 

 of the first flowers, it is off to the far north, where, we are told, 

 it depresses its nest in a bed of moss upon the ground, and lines 

 it with fur shed from the coat of the arctic fox. 



Chipping Sparrow 



(Spi^ella socialis) Finch family 



Called also: CHIPPY ; HAlR-BlRD ; CHIP-BIRD ; SOCIAL 



SPARROW 



Length — 5 to 5.5 inches. An inch shorter than the English 



sparrow. 

 Male — Under the eye, on the back of the neck, underneath, and 



on the lower back ash-gray. Gray stripe over the eye, and a 



149 



