102 FEEDING HABITS OF THE CHIPPING SPARROW 
dropped ; then the bird settled down on the nest and remained 
two minutes, when it left. 
Two minutes later both birds returned and fed the young. 
One picked up excrement from the nest, flew a few feet away, 
and immediately returned and sat on the nest. At 4 : 06 the 
bird on the nest left (at 4 : 08 the sun rose) and at 4 : 09 one bird 
returned and settled on the nest. At 4 : 13 it got off the nest 
and caught an insect of some sort on a branch of the little tree 
in which the nest was placed, the insect being within a foot of 
where the bird was sitting. This insect was fed to one young 
bird and the parent bird flew away. The record for the next 
hour was as follows : 
4:16 — One bird returned, fed, flew off with excrement. 
4:19 — One bird returned with food ; settled on nest. 
4 :25 — Bird on nest flew away. 
4:30 — One bird (thought to be the male) lit in a poplar tree near 
by, flew from branch to branch, then flew into tree in 
which nest was, fed one young bird with an insect or 
worm, then flew away. 
4 : 3 ! — Th e other parent (believed to be the female) returned, fed, 
and settled on the nest. 
4:34— Bird on nest flew off; the other bird came at once, fed, and 
flew away. 
4:35 — A parent (believed to be the female) returned, fed, and flew 
away. 
4:38 — One old bird (thought to be the female again) returned, fed, 
and settled on the nest. 
4 141 — Bird on the nest left. 
4:42— A parent (supposed to be the male) returned, fed, and car- 
ried away excrement. 
4:56 — Old bird (supposed to be the male again) returned with food 
which was given to one of the young, and carried away 
excrement. 
4 :58 — Old bird (supposed to be the female) returned, fed one of 
the- young, and settled on the nest a minute before flying 
away. 
4 : 59 — T!ie other bird returned, fed one of the young ones, and 
cleaned the nest. 
5 :o5 — Old bird (thought to be the male) returned, fed nestling, 
and flew away. 
5 :o7 — One parent (probably the mother) returned, fed, brooded a 
moment, then flew away. 
5 :io — The same bird (apparently) returned, fed, and flew off. 
5 : 1 2 — Again the old bird believed to be the mother, returned, fed, 
and then settled on the nest. 
FEEDING HABITS OF THE CHIPPING SPARROW 1 03 
The above record will give a fair idea of the activity of these 
parents during the day. Between 5 and 6 o’clock food was 
brought fourteen times ; between 6 and 7, seven times ; 7 and 
8, eleven times ; 8 and 9, twelve times ; 9 and 10, ten times ; 10 
and 11, seventeen times; 11 and 12, ten times. The after- 
noon hours were equally well filled. During the first hour (12 
to 1) fifteen visits to the nest were made, while the second hour 
saw twenty-one visits recorded. Between 2 and 3 the parents 
came twelve times ; between 3 and 4, nine times; between 4 
and 5, thirteen times ; between 5 and 6, nine times ; between 6 
and 7, ten times. The day’s work closed at 7 150, when it 
was too dark to see the late worm should he still be wandering 
about. 
THE RECORD IN DETAIL 
The detailed record of these observations for the remainder 
of the day is given below in small type. The essential facts of 
interest to the general reader are summarized in the paragraphs 
above and at the end of the bulletin : 
5:17 — The other parent (supposed to be the male) lit in a tree 
near by ; the female flew off, and the bird in the tree came 
to the nest, fed one of the young, and flew away. 
5 :2o — The female (?) returned fed, and flew away. 
5 :26— The male (?) returned, fed, and carried away excrement. 
\ 5 132 — The female ( ?) returned, fed, and flew off. 
5 :34— The female (?) returned, fed, and flew off. 
5 136 — The male (?) returned, fed, and carried away excrement. 
5 :44 — The female (?) returned, fed, and flew away. 
5 : 5 1 - — The male ( ?) returned, fed, and flew away. 
5 : 5 1 . 5 — The female (?) returned, fed, and flew away. 
5 : 56 — The female (?) returned, fed, and flew away. 
6:06 — The female (?) returned, fed, and carried away excrement. 
6:08 — The male (?) returned, fed, and flew away. 
6:09 — The female (?) returned and flew away without feeding the 
young. 
6 :i7 — The female (?) returned, fed, and flew away. 
6 128 — One parent returned, fed, and flew away. 
6:34 — One parent returned with a large, green worm; the nestling 
to which it was given had considerable difficulty in swallow- 
ing it. 
6:39— One bird returned with some small insect. 
6 :44 — One parent brought a small, dark-colored larva resembling 
that of a saw-fly. 
(A man working a lawn-mower near the nest was probably 
the cause of this interval of sixteen minutes.) 
