SPAKROWS IN THE FIELD. 41 



The individuality of the habits of each of the several species, 

 though not so marked as on the Marshall Hall farm, was nevertheless 

 sufficiently pronounced to merit passing consideration. Tree spar- 

 rows were usually too few and too shy for observation, and, with one 

 exception, field sparrows were found only in little groups of not more 

 than half a dozen individuals. The lack of these two species may 

 ibe correlated with the absence of worn-out land and the broom sedge 

 with which they appear to be so Intimately associated at Marshall 

 Hall. 



The song sparrows and white-throated sparrows taken together aggre- 

 gated 50 or 100. Sometimes one species was the more abundant and 

 sometimes the other. The}^ seemed to associate together constantly, 

 as on the Marshall Hall farm. This was especially noticeable when 

 they were feeding along the brook on the seeds of climbing false buck- 

 wheat, of which they are much more fond than are other sparrows. 

 As has already been shown, white-throated sparrows destroy much 

 ragweed, while song sparrows are very^ partial to grass seed. Hence 

 it would frequently occur that on leaving the false buckwheat and 

 ascending the hill the white- throated sparrows took to the ragweed on 

 the slope while the song sparrows would feed on the crab-grass and 

 pigeon-grass in the garden beyond. 



The fox sparrow, unlike these two species, resembled the cardinal 

 in its habit of staying close to cover and not feeding any distance 

 afield. 



The junco, on the contrary, surpassed all the other sparrows in feed- 

 ing in the open. Even though its food, as revealed b}^ the examina- 

 tion of stomachs, shows a comparatively large percentage of grass 

 .seed, which is usually indicative of less effectiveness as a weed 

 destroyer, yet because of its habit of feeding afield, it is far more 

 valuable than man}^ of the cover-loving species which take less grass 

 seed. Not only did the j uncos feed out in the open themselves, but 

 they encouraged other species to follow them into the middles of the 

 ragweed field and vegetable garden, and even quite a distance out 

 into a piece of exposed corn stubble which supported only pigeon- 

 grass and crab-grass. They used cedar trees for cover, as at Marshall 

 Hall, and did not seem dependent on bushes, like other sparrows. 

 Often the flock, numbering over 100 individuals, on being alarmed 

 would fly to an open beech wood and ascend to the tops of the tallest 

 trees, whence they would fly several hundred yards to some open 

 field. Song sparrows under similar conditions never leave their bushy 

 covers to ascend to the tops of trees. 



The weed seed destruction appeared much more effective than at 

 Marshall Hall, because the feeding ranges of the birds practically 

 included the whole of each of t^e several fields; even those birds 

 usuall}^ most restricted to cover were often found in the centers of 

 fields. The reason for this more fortunate condition seemed twofold. 



