72 THE EELATION OF SPARROWS TO AGRICULTURE. 



from October to February that 35 percent of the food is coini^osed of 

 nothing else. No other sparrow, except the snowflake, takes these 

 noxious seeds to any approximate extent. The only other weed seeds 

 devoured in quantity by Nuttall's sparrow come from such, legumi- 

 nous plants as cassia, and from purslane and plants of the pink 

 famil}^ 



The one character that chiefly serves to distinguish this spar- 

 row from its brethren is its inordinate appetite for grain. It seems 

 to prefer oats, but will take corn, wheat, or barley whenever an 

 opportunity offers. The cereal element in the stomachs collected 

 from October to February, inclusive, forms 39 percent of the total 

 contents, and in January attains a maximum of 50 percent. The 

 grain is obtained from newly sown fields, from standing grain, and 

 from the harvest field where it is picked ui3 from the stubble. The 

 greater part of the birds whose stomachs contained the largest 

 proportion of grain were collected in newly sown fields. Dr. T. S. 

 Palmer has repeatedh^ observed this sparrow in large flocks on 

 newlj^ sown land and apparently causing damage. 



With this bad record in the grainfield and with the destruction of 

 an unusually large proportion of valuable parasitic wasps to be 

 charged against it, the value of this white-crowned sparrow of the 

 Pacific coast is open to question. The only real offset to this damag- 

 ing record is to be found in the destruction of weed seeds, particu 

 larly those of lamb's-quarters and amaranth. But, full weight being- 

 allowed to this credit, the bird seems to be the least beneficial of anj^ 

 thus far considered. 



WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 



(Zonotrichia albicollis.) 



The white -throated sparrow (see frontispiece) is as characteristic 

 of the Canadian zone as the typical white-crowned sparrow is of the 

 Hudsonian. It breeds in the northern tier of States Avest to Montana 

 and north into Canada, migrating in autumn into the middle Eastern 

 States, some individuals going as far south as Florida and Mexico. 

 It closely resembles the white-crowned sparrow in appearance and 

 habit, but its song is distinctive, consisting of a high, plaintive, 

 drawn-out pipe, that when once heard is seldom forgotten. In New 

 England this song has been thought to suggest the words, Peabody! 

 Peabod}^! Peabody! and the sparrow has received the name of 

 ' Peabody bird. ' Equally characteristic, though less generallj^ known, 

 is a curious clinking call-note that is uttered at first loudly, then in a 

 softer, more conversational tone, when the birds are repairing in 

 flocks to their quarters for the night during their sojourn in the 

 South. 



The white-crowned sparrow, the tree sparrow, and the fox sparrow 

 breed in the far North, where agriculture is limited ; but both the 



