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The Chipping Sparrow 
from the door. It is an unobtrusive bird, and really has no human ene- 
mies, so far as I am aware. One may love or may ignore the Chipping 
Sparrow, but where is the person who dislikes this friendly bird? It does 
not get in the way ; it does not fill roof-gutters with dry leaves and trash ; 
and its simple, chipping notes are so low that they would never awaken 
one of a morning. It is no wonder that it has been called the “Social” 
Sparrow. 
I have always liked the Chipping Sparrow, it is so like a good woman 
I once knew, who, though very plain and somewhat unimaginative, was 
nevertheless considerate, thoughtful, and very gentle. Many persons did 
not notice her, but those who did always spoke kindly of her. 
This is one of the birds that has greatly increased since white men 
settled the country, for the cultivation of fields and 
Increase gardens has furnished it just the proper amount of 
protection, and an abundance of the right kind of food. 
The trees and bushes that men plant in their orchards and on their lawns 
provide splendid places for the Chipping Sparrow to build its nest. 
The cradle for the babies is a very dainty structure. It is made of 
dry grasses, with a few small twigs to strengthen and support it. In the 
center of this one will find a smooth cup lined deeply with horsehair, 
where four or five pale blue or greenish eggs are laid. Scattered about 
over the surface of the shell, but particularly numerous around the 
larger end, is a sprinkling of black or brownish spots. A variety of 
situations is chosen, so that we may find a nest near the end of a swaying 
bough or saddled among the twigs of a lower branch of a shade-tree 
by the street. Often, the birds choose cedar-bushes or other thick shrubs, 
and in such cases the nest may be only three or four feet from the ground. 
I recall one pair that built their home in a clematis-vine, which grew 
on the veranda-trellis. Here, day by day, we used to watch the parent- 
birds bring food to their little ones, and it is astonishing how mucn labor 
it requires to keep four baby Chipping Sparrows supplied with all the 
food they will eat. Every two or three minutes one of the parents would 
flit into the clematis-vine with food for the young. 
In the could tell, it appeared that the male at- 
Clematis- Vine 
tended to the duties of caring for the young fully as 
much as did his mate. This, truly, is the correct way to do ; but not all 
father-birds follow this custom. 
One of the little Chipping Sparrows seemed to be stronger than the 
others, and usually raised his head a little higher than his brothers and 
sisters, and opened his mouth a little wider in an attempt to get all the 
good things which his parents brought to eat, I fear much of the time 
he received more than his share. When a little later, however, the young 
had left the nest, and were learning to fly, this selfish youngster received 
no more than the others — in fact, on more than one occasion we saw the 
mother pass him by to give food to a brother or sister that sat farther 
along on the same limb. 
