506 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
ing numbers all through the winter and until at least the middle of April, 
after which it passes rapidly northward beyond our borders. Whether 
this bird is less abundant in Michigan in winter than in the other northern 
states we cannot say, but it is certain that during midwinter very few are seen 
here compared with the thousands which winter in the New England states, 
and, according to other observers, in Iowa and Nebraska. Apparently 
the greater number pass entirely south of the state in winter, since the 
species is much more abundant in November and March than at other 
seasons. 
During its stay it feeds almost entirely upon grass seed and weed seed, 
and examinations made by the U. S. Department of Agriculture show that 
probably each bird consumes at least one-fourth of an ounce of such seed 
per day. Upon this basis, counting ten Tree Sparrows to an acre, it has 
been estimated that they destroy during a season, in the state of Iowa 
alone, 1,750,000 pounds, which equals 875 tons, of weed seed (Beal, Farm- 
ers Bulletin No. 54, p. 28). 
While with us it associates frequently with the Juncos, and is oftenest 
found in flocks of 25 to 100 individuals. It has been reported to nest in 
the northern part of the state, but there seems to be no evidence whatever 
that this is the case. In fact, the bird is not known to nest within the 
limits of the United States, but is a summer resident of Arctic and Sub- 
arctic America, never remaining in Michigan through the summer. Wood 
and Frothingham state that they saw a single one with a flock of Juncos in 
Tosco county on August 6, 1904 (Auk, XX, 45). Thisis an extraordinarily 
early record and seems likely to have been based on a mistaken identifica- 
tion, as the specimen was not taken. 
The nest, in the far north, is placed either on the ground or in low bushes, 
is composed of dry grasses, feathers, etc., and the eggs are three to five, 
similar to those of the White-throated Sparrow, but averaging .75 by .58 
inches (Ridgway). 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Adult (sexes alike): Top of head, stripe behind eye, and often a short streak from base 
of lower mandible, chestnut; rest of head and neck all round ash-gray, washed with brownish 
at back of neck; middle of back and scapulars reddish brown, streaked with black; rump 
and upper-tail coverts plain brownish-gray; under parts mostly plain, dull ash-gray, 
browner on the sides and flanks, nearly white on the belly; middle of breast with a small 
but distinct dusky spot; two conspicuous white wing-bars, and the tertiaries black with 
wide rusty or chestnut margins, which often become pure white near the tips; tail-feathers 
dark gray or dusky, unmarked except for narrow white or whitish edgings on the outer 
webs; upper mandible and tip of lower blackish; rest of lower mandible yellow; iris brown. 
Jn autumn and in immature birds the lower parts are usually strongly washed with buff, 
even on the belly and under tail-coverts. Young: Similar, but with top of head streaked 
with blackish and brown, the sides of neck with narrow dark streaks, and the chest also 
streaked with dusky. Length 6 to 6.50 inches; wing 2.80 to 3.10; tail 2.60 to 2.90. 
231. Chipping Sparrow. Spizella passerina paserina (Bech.). (560) 
Synonyms: Chippy, Chip-bird, Hair-bird, Hair Sparrow.—Fringilla passerina, Bech- 
stein, 1798.—T'ringilla socialis, Wils., Nutt., Aud.—Spizella socialis, Bonap., 1838, and 
most recent authors.—Spizella domestica, Coues, 1875, Ridgw., 1881. 
Plate L. 
A small sparrow with reddish-brown crown, bordered just above the eye 
by a gray streak, and with a black line through the eye. The under parts 
are ashy gray without spot or streak. 
