BIRDS USEFUL TO FARM AND ORCHARD 
Range 
Breeds in the United States (except 
the South Atlantic and Gulf states), 
Southern Canada, Southern Alaska, and 
Mexico, winters in Alaska and most of 
the United States southward. 
Habits and Economie Status 
Like the familiar little “chippy,”’ the 
song sparrow is one of our most domestic 
species, and builds its nest in hedges or 
in garden shrubbery close to houses, 
whenever it is reasonably safe from the 
house cat, which, however, takes heavy 
toll of the nestlings. It is a true har- 
binger of spring, and its delightful little 
song 1s thrilled forth from the top of 
some green shrub in early March and 
April, betore most of our other songsters 
have thought of leaving the sunny South. 
Song sparrows vary much in habits, as 
well as in size and coloration Some 
forms live along streams bordered by 
deserts, others in swamps among bul- 
rushes and tules, others in timbered reg- 
ions, others on rocky barren hillsides, and 
still others in rich, fertile valleys. With 
such a variety of habitat, the food of the 
species naturally varies considerably. 
About three-fourths of its diet consists 
of the seeds of noxious weeds and one- 
fourth of insects. Of these, beetles, espe- 
cially weevils, constitute the major por- 
tion. Ants, wasps, bugs (including the 
black olive scale), and caterpillars are 
also eaten. Grasshoppers are taken by 
the Eastern birds, but not by the West- 
ern ones 
Chipping Sparrow 
Spizella passerina 
Length, about five and one-fourth 
inches. Distinguished by the chestnut 
crown, black line through eye, and black 
bill, 
Range 
Breeds throughout the United States, 
south to Nicaragua, and north to South- 
ern Canada; winters in the Southern 
United States and southward. 
Habits and Economie Status 
The chipping sparrow is very friendly 
and domestic, and often builds its nest 
in gardens and orchards or in the shrub- 
bery close to dwellings. Its gentle and 
633 
confiding ways endear it to all bird 
lovers It is one of the most insectivor- 
ous of all the sparrows. Its diet consists 
of about 42 per cent of insects and 
Spiders and 58 per cent of vegetable mat- 
ter. The animal food consists largely of 
caterpillars, of which it feeds a great 
many to its young Besides these, it eats 
beetles, including many weevils, of 
which one stomach contained 30. It also 
eats ants, wasps, and bugs. Among the 
latter are plant lice and black olive 
scales. The vegetable food is practically 
all weed seed A nest with four young 
of this species was watched at different 
hours on four days. In the seven hours 
of observation 119 feedings were noted, 
or an average of 17 feedings per hour, or 
four and one-half feedings per hour to 
each nestling. This would give for a day 
of 14 hours at least 238 insects eaten by 
the brood. 
White-Crowned Sparrow 
Zonotrichia leucophrys 
Length, seven inches. The only similar 
sparrow, the white-throat, has a yellow 
spot in front of eye. 
Range 
Breeds in Canada, the mountains of 
New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and 
Montana, and thence to the Pacific coast; 
winters in the southern half of the 
United States and Northern Mexico. 
Habits and Eeonowic Status 
This beautiful sparrow is much more 
numerous in the Western than in the 
Eastern states, where, indeed, it is rather 
rare. In the East it is shy and retiring, 
but it is much bolder and more conspicu- 
ous in the far West and there often fre- 
quents gardens and parks. Like most of 
its family it is a seed eater by preference, 
and insects comprise very little more 
than seven per cent of its diet. Cater- 
pillars are the largest item, with some 
beetles, a few ants and wasps, and some 
bugs, among which are black olive scales. 
The great bulk of the food, however, 
consists of weed seeds, which amount to 
74 per cent of the whole. In California 
this bird is accused of eating the buds 
and blossoms of fruit trees, but buds or 
blossoms were found in only 30 out of 
