244 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



the bird is very quiet and less conspicuous than ever, but is 

 often seen feeding about fallen logs in open tracts of pine 

 timber. 



Food habits. — The food of this sparrow, as indicated by 

 examination of 10 stomachs from Alabama, consisted of 58 per 

 cent animal matter, and 42 per cent vegetable. The animal 

 food included leaf -beetles, 9.3 per cent ; other beetles, including 

 weevils and longicorns, 23.1 per cent. Bugs constituted 12 

 per cent and the other food items were grasshoppers and 

 crickets (5.7 per cent) with some snails, spiders, and millipeds. 

 The vegetable food consisted principally of grass seed and the 

 seeds of sedges; wood sorrel and Indian strawberry made up 

 the remainder. 



SONG SPARROW : Melospiza melodia melodia (Wilson) . 



State records. — The song sparrow (fig. 17) occurs in Ala- 

 bama only in winter, when it is abundant in all sections ex- 

 cept the coast region. It was found in numbers at Anniston 

 (October 22), Sand Mountain (October 27), Autaugaville 

 (November), Ashford (November), York (February), 

 Auburn (March), and Dothan (March 13). Only two were 

 observed at Orange Beach in January, two on Petit Bois 

 Island, February 12, and two at Bayou Labatre, February 16 

 (1912). First arrivals in fall appeared at Leighton, October 

 17 (1891), Greensboro, October 24 (1890), and Autaugaville, 

 October 17 (1915) . The last in spring were seen at Leighton 

 March 30 (1889), and at Anniston, March 26 (1916). 



General habits. — During its stay in the South, the song 

 sparrow lives in thickets, hedges, and brushy fields, partic- 

 ularly in low, wet spots overgrown with broom sedge or briers. 

 It feeds chiefly on the ground, and when startled from an 

 elevated perch always makes a dive for a thicket or brier 

 patch. It is found in loose companies, but never in compact 

 flocks. It sings a little on warm days in fall and early spring, 

 but reserves most of its vocal efforts until it has reached its 

 breeding grounds in the North. There it is well known and 

 beloved for its sociable habits and its cheery song — one of the 

 first to be heard at the breaking up of winter. 



