4*2 THE RELATION OF SPARROWS TO AGRICULTURE. 
In the first place, they seemed to be comparatively free from the 
attack8 of hawks, and in the second, each of the several fields was 
small, containing but two or three acres, and all together amounting 
in acreage to hardly a single held of the Marshal] Hall farm, hence 
the birds were never far from protecting cover. 
The ground-feeding habit of sparrows was sometimes brought into 
sharp contrast with the feeding methods of other birds. Tims on 
December 10 (1899) throughout the dense ragweed of the steep slope, 
there were about a hundred white-throated and song sparrows busily 
picking up t lie fallen akenes, while a dozen purple finches and 2 chicka- 
dees were plucking seeds from i he sialks. Again on February -l ( L900) 
in this same held about 50 juncos, a dozen song sparrows, and sev- 
eral lidd sparrows were feeding entirely from the ground, while a 
score of goldfinches hung from the tops of the ragweed, feeding 
entirely from the stalks. Along the tributary of the brook several 
purple finches were perched on the climbing false buckwheat vines 
feeding on the seeds still on the vines, while tree sparrows, juncos, 
field sparrows, white-throated sparrows, song sparrows, and fox spar- 
rows hopped about on the ground below them, searching for seeds 
that had fallen. Between this tributary and the woods, on ground 
weedy with crab-grass and partly covered by fallen leaves, a (lock of 
about 150 sparrows, including all the above species save the fox spar- 
row, were busily feeding on the scattered seeds. The song sparrow, 
white-throats, and juncos scratched so busily among the fallen Leaves 
that they kept up a continuous dry crackling sound, audible for 50 
yards. The differences noted on these two dates were commonly met 
with throughout the winter, affording abundant evidence of the 
manner in which the ground-feeding sparrows supplement the work 
of stalk-feeding species. 
But although ground feeding is the rule with sparrows, it is not. as 
ha-- already been shown, an invariable one. A notable exception was 
the stalk feeding of held and tree sparrows in the broom sedge of the 
Marshall Hall farm, which has been mentioned. To some extent the 
same species showed the same characteristics on the farm under 
consideration* Field sparrows were observed in several instances 
feeding entirely from the culms of the spreading panicnni. The 
Several other Species of sparrows, except tree sparrows, which fed on 
this grass, did not appear to be able to secure the seeds in this wax, 
but wailed until they had been shaken out one or two at a time from 
the inclosing sheaths. Song sparrows, juncos, and white-throated 
sparrows were occasionally observed taking seeds from the stalks of 
Other planls. In four instances juncos were seen in the tops of tall 
amaranth plants picking oul a few seeds. A song sparrow was also 
QOted feeding from amaranth sialks. and others were noted feeding 
from the b talks of ragweed, dork, and Iambus-quarters. A white- 
throated sparrow in a single instance was observed plucking a seed 
