BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 303 



as it destroys May beetles, leaf hoppers, and sawflies. It 

 eats more useful insects than some other Sparrows, and takes 

 a good many spiders, some ants, and some earthworms. It 

 also eats the seeds of many weeds, but feeds largely on the 

 seeds of grasses and a little grain, mostly oats. A dozen of 

 these Sparrows collected in a wheat field had eaten no wheat, 

 but were feeding on weed seed. 



The Field Sparrow, though less valuable to the farmer than 

 some other species, is useful, and fills a place of its own. 



Chipping Sparrow. Chippy. Chipper. Chip Bird. Hair Bird. 



Spizella socialis. 



Length. — Five to five and one-half inches. 



Adult. — Crown bright reddish-brown ; back brown, dark-streaked; a light-gray 



line over the eye, a blackish line through it ; cheeks and under parts light 



gray or pale ash ; tail slightly notched. 

 Young. — Breast, sides, and top of head streaked. 

 West. — Lined with hair; in a hush, vine, or tree. 

 Eggs. — Light bluish, with a ring of dark spots around the larger end. 

 Season. — April to October. 



This is the little dooryard bird that nests in the apple trees 

 about the house, and picks up crumbs on the old stone door- 

 step. It is common in village dooryards, 

 along the roads, in orchards, pastures, 

 and particularly in gardens and plowed 

 lands. It holds the distinction of being 

 the most familiar and useful of all Spar- 

 rows in the yard and garden. Unlike 

 some other Sparrows, it is often found 



r . Fig. 134. — Chipping 



far from bushy coverts, in the very cen- sparrow, about one-naif 



. « i n r* -i n natural size. 



ter of plowed fields. 



The song of the Chipping Sparrow is a mere string of dry 

 chips, sometimes repeated very rapidly and almost running 

 into a trill, sometimes more slowly. On a spring morning 

 the sound of the distant birds answering one another in dif- 

 ferent keys gives an impression like the rising and falling 

 of the breath of a sleeper in the fields. Occasionally some 

 talented bird modulates its usual song, giving a somewhat 

 more musical, varied rendition, which suggests some of the 

 songs of Warblers. The ordinary notes are a variety of 



