< Z THE RELATION OF SPARROWS TO AGRICULTURE. 
from October bo February that .■>."> percent of bhe f(nn\ is composed of 
DOthing else. No oilier sparrow, except the snowflake, lakes these 
QOXiOUS seeds to any approximate extent. The Only Ol her 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 
family. 
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, bul will take corn, wheat, or barley whenever an 
opportunity offers. The cereal element in the stomachs collected 
from October to February, inclusive, forms :vj 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 up 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 repeatedly observed this sparrow in Large Hocks on 
newly sown land and apparently causing damage. 
With this bad record in the grainfield and witli 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 i<> this credit, the bird seems to be the least beneficial of any 
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 
Iludsonian. It breeds in the northern tier of States west 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 ;i high, plaintive, 
diawn-ont pipe, that when once heard 1s seldom forgotten. In New 
England this song has been thought to suggest the words, Peabody! 
Peabody! Peabody! and the sparrow lias received the name of 
v Peabody bird. 1 Equally characteristic, though Less generally 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 
fiOCks to their quarters for the night during their sojourn in the 
South. 
The white-crowned sparrow, the tree sparrow, ami the fox sparrow 
breed in the far North, where agriculture is limited; but both 
the 
