FEEDING HABITS OF THE CHIPPING SPARROW 
7 :oo — Both birds returned at the same time. The object carried by 
the male was too small to be identified, while the female 
had a large, green caterpillar, apparently a noctuid larva. 
This larva was so large that the nestling could not swallow 
it without assistance from the parent. When the mother 
came to the nest, the larva was held in the bill transversely. 
Before it was given to the nestling the larva was turned 
around so that it ran lengthwise of the bill. 
7 : 14 — One parent brought a dark-colored caterpillar and carried away 
excrement. 
7 :i$ — One bird, thought to be the male, has been on a small poplar 
tree near the nest for the last minute with something in its 
bill. It has just flown to the tiny cedar shrub near by, 
then to the tree in which the nest is placed, and back to 
the poplar at once. 
7 :i7 — The bird in the poplar flew to the nest and fed young. The 
other parent made a flying visit to the poplar and flew away. 
7:22 — One old bird appeared with a large caterpillar, alighting on 
the poplar a moment before flying to the nest to give it to 
a nestling. 
7 139 — One bird brought a rather large, grey caterpillar and carried 
away excrement. 
7 144 — Both birds returned at once, the male with a large larva, 
apparently a noctuid (the group to which the cutworms 
belong) . 
7 :52 — One parent brought a large, greyish caterpillar. 
7 : 5 6 — One bird, thought to be the male, returned with food and 
carried away excrement. 
7 158 — Parent returned with a worm, fed, carried away excrement. 
8 105 — One parent returned with a small insect, fed, and flew away. 
8 :og — Parent returned with food, then flew away. 
8 : 12 — One parent returned, fed, and flew away. 
8 117 — One parent returned, fed, and flew away. 
8 :24 — One bird returned to the small poplar tree with a larva, 
apparently a noctuid, in its mouth. It seemed afraid to 
go to the nest and remained in the poplar four minutes. 
Then the other parent returned to the poplar with a worm, 
looked around a moment, flew to the nest, fed the worm 
to one of the nestlings, and flew away Meanwhile, the 
other adult swallowed its worm and flew off without visiting 
the nest. 
8 :39 — One old bird visited the tree in which the nest was for a 
moment and then flew away without feeding the young. 
8 :40 — Both parents came at once and fed ; one, supposed to be the 
male, carried away excrement. 
8:43 — One old bird, apparently the mother, brought a small, dark 
brown caterpillar, which was fed to a nestling, and carried 
away excrement. 
8 : 44 — One bird (the male[?]) brought small objects, fed, and flew 
away. 
FEEDING HABITS OF THE CHIPPING SPARROW 105 
8:45 — The other bird (the female [?]) brought small objects, fed 
young, and cleaned the nest. 
8:47 — One parent (the mother [?]) brought a blackish caterpillar 
and flew away as soon as it was given to a nestling. 
8 : 5 8 — One parent brought a medium-sized, greenish caterpillar. 
9:01 — One bird (the male [?]) brought some small insect, fed, and 
flew away. 
9 :o6 — The mother (?) brought a large, green caterpillar. 
Fig. 1. — A Crane-Fly (Eaten by Young Chipping Sparrows). 
9 107 — The male (?) brought some small object. 
9 :i2 — The female (?) brought a very large, green caterpillar. 
9 : 13 — The male brought some small object. 
9:26 — One bird brought a large, green caterpillar, large enough to 
be the larva of Amphipyra pyramidoides , and of very much 
the appearance of that species. 
9 138 — Both birds returned to the nest at the same time ; one had a 
rather small larva, and the other a large, pale green one. 
One bird cleaned the nest. 
9:39 — One bird brought a small, dark caterpillar, and carried away 
excrement. 
