THE EEKLATTOB OF BPASBOW8 TO AGRICULTURE. 
various kinds of polygonums. The remainder is made up of a variety 
which taken alone plays any significant part in the 
diet, bat which amount altogether to 1<> percent of the food. These 
are for the m»>st part wild sunflower, golden-rod, chick weed, sedge, 
birch, purslane, wood sorrel, violet, and sheep sorrel. According to 
Dr. Warren, the tree sparrow feeds on wild grapes and cedar berries, 
but the laboratory investigations have thus far failed to show any 
remains of fruit other than some E blackberry and blueberry, 
which were picked up in early spring. 
The animal food during the bird's stay in the United States amounts 
to 2 percent, a quantity too small to be of much economic interest. It 
consists of weevils and other beetles, such as ground-beetles and 
also wasp-like insects, ants, caterpillars, bugs, _ isshop- 
b, and spiders. 
The value of the bird lies chiefly in the fact that barely 1 percent 
of its food consists of grain, while more than 50 percent is made up of 
w 1 seed. As it is one of the most abundant species, fairly swarm- 
ing in the hedge rows that skirt the fields, it is capable of rendering 
siderable service to agriculture. 
CHIPPING SPARROW. 
di* and Spizella s. arizonce.) 
The chipping sparrow breeds in every State in the Union (with 
the possible exception of Florida), in Canada, and on the table-lands 
of Mexico. Its breeding range includes four life zones, the Canadian, 
Transition, and Upper and Lower Austral, but in autumn the gen- 
eral migratory movement carries all the birds into the Lower Austral 
and farther south — that is to say, into the Gulf States. Cuba, and 
Mexico. 
This little red-capped bird, that often builds its horse hair-lined nest 
in the vines of the porch, is one of the best known of the native spar- 
Its semi-domestic habits cause it to be a general favorite, 
3 re the fact that it is not gifted with pleasing vocal powers, but 
otters only an incessant metallic chip, and a song that - ggestfi the 
of a distant cicada. The eggs are a delicate robin's-egg blue 
ted at nil.- end with black, which is exceptional, most sparrow eggs 
having a whitish ground color overlaid with brownish markings. 
The two broods of from three to five young reared each year consume 
quantities of caterpillars and grasshoppers. Dr. Clarence M. 
Weed has seen a chipping sparrow can »rpillara to it- young 
in twelve hou - 
In its own feeding the bird i> a ooted destroyer of different caterpil- 
Mr. K. II. Forbush speaks of its eating cankerworms and brown- 
tail-moth, tent, and gipsy-moth caterpillars; 1 Dr. B. II. Warren has 
'Ball. I H. Coll. Agr. Ex; 
MM I r i» Kept.. Ball. :'.. pp. 33-86, Jaly. 1D00. 
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