CHIPPING SPARROW. 125 



mountains. In Jtily and August he found it abundantly in such localities on the East 

 Humboldt Motmtains. At Sacramento, Cal., it was also very numerous among the 

 groves of small oaks. He could not find the slightest difference in habits or notes between 

 the two forms. Dr. Elliott Coues observed this form a very abundant summer resident 

 in Arizona, and Mr. Dresser obtained specimens near San Antonio, Texas. 



In the Northern States the Hairbird does not belong to the first arrivals from the 

 South, although it makes its appearance wrhile spring still hesitates with lingering 

 doubts, cold winds and patches of snow on north-facing slopes and in shaded ravines. 

 I have rarely observed it in southern Wisconsin before April 20, and the same holds true 

 of all localities under the same latitude. At Freistatt, Lawrence Co., Mo., where these 

 birds are exceedingly common during the migrations, they do not arrive before March 15. 

 Though the climate of the last-named locality is very mild, none winter there. They 

 arrive from the North eai'ly in October, and by November 30 almost all have lefb. Only 

 few remain to breed. At Houston, Texas, I met with them throughout the winter in 

 the larger gardens, where they found sufficient food and excellent abiding places in the 

 dense evergreen shrubs, conifers, creepers, and rose bushes. The w^inter home of the 

 Chippy is in the Southern States, but the majority winters in Mexico. Dr. Gerhardt 

 found this bird breeding in northern Georgia, and Dr. Coues in South Carolina. 



The haunts of the Chippy are always chosen near the habitations of man. We 

 rarely meet with it in pastures and on the woodland border. In the days of my youth 

 a pair built its nest several times each year in the dense wild grape-vine, which was 

 planted as an ornament on the veranda of my parental home, while near by a second 

 pair had its domicile in a wild clematis or common virgin's bower {Clematis Virginiana); a 

 third pair had its nest in a dense -mid gooseberry bush not more than twenty yards away. 

 In close proximity to my house at Oak Park, lUs.^ a pair nestled in a dense arbor-vitae, 

 and others had their nests in spruces and firs. Where upright honey-suckles, mock-orange 

 and snowherryhushes {Sytnpboricarpus glomeratus) art plarited profusely, these are entirely 

 to its fancy. Twining honey-suckles, clematis, and especially currant bushes are also favor- 

 ite nesting sites. In the East, where rhododendrons, azaleas, andromedas, and kalmias 

 (mountain laurels) flourish to perfection in peaty beds, they are the Chippy's paradise. 



The Chipping Sparrow's nest is one of the most notable and characteristic domiciles 

 among those of our garden birds, and one scarcely to be mistaken for that of any other 

 bird. Fine grasses and rootlets form the substance of the walls and basement, and the 

 deep cup is almost invariably lined with horse hairs, and sometimes it consists chiefly 

 or entirely of such material. The location of the domicile is also very characteristic. 

 In most cases it is built in the interior of a very dense bush, not more than two or 

 three feet from the gfound. If we carefully bend the twigs aside, we may see the beau- 

 tiful nest with its still more beautiful contents before our eyes. Frequently these birds 

 become so accustomed to the presence of man, that they built their nest within arm's 

 reach of those who sit or walk upon the veranda. 



In Wisconsin I often found the nest in almost impenetrable and stunted white- 

 thorn bushes in pastures. These bushes were kept dwarf and dense by the teeth of 

 browsing cattle; no cat or skunk or any other robber could penetrate such a thorny 

 mass, and even the bird itself could often enter it only at one or two places. 



