FEEDING HABITS OF THE CHIPPING SPARROW 
108 
2 158 — One parent brought a large crane-fly (Fig. 1), entering the tree 
on the east side, and carried away excrement. 
2 :59 — Bird fed nestlings, coming from the north side. 
3 : 1 1 — Bird fed nestlings, coming from the north side. 
3 : 1 5 — Bird fed nestlings, coming from the north side. 
3 : 1 8 — Bird fed nestlings, coming from the north side; carried away 
excrement. 
3 -. 26 — Both birds came at once, having been searching the lawn 
near by for a few minutes preceding. 
3 :28 — One bird came to nest, entering north side. 
3 :29 — Bird brought small object through east side. 
3 :33 — Bird came with food from north side. 
3 142 — Bird came with food from north side. 
4 :oi — Bird came with food from east side. 
4 :o5 — Bird came with a caterpillar from north side. 
4:09— Bird came with food from north side. 
4 ; 13 — Bird came with food from east side. 
4:16 — Bird brought food, entering at east side. 
4 124 — Bird brought food, entering at north side. 
4:38 — An exceptionally large caterpillar brought through east side. 
4 :43 — Bird brought food, entering at north side. 
4:45 — Bird brought food, entering at north side; carried away 
excrement. 
4:45.5 — A large caterpillar was brought in at east side ; excrement 
removed. 
4 146 — Bird brought food, entering at east side. 
4:52 — Bird brought food, entering at north side. 
4 156 — Bird brought a caterpillar, entering at north side. Settled on 
nest to remain four minutes. 
5 123— Both birds came at once, one carrying a small object, and the 
other a caterpillar. 
5:25 — Bird brought food, entering at north side; carried away 
excrement. 
5:33 — Bird brought food, entering at east side; carried away 
excrement. 
5 139 — Bird brought food, entering at north side. 
5 142 — Bird brought food, entering at east side. 
5 :45 — Bird brought food, entering at north side ; fed two nestlings. 
5 150 — Bird brought food, entering at north side. 
5:59 — Bird brought food, entering at north side; carried away 
excrement. 
6:01 — A caterpillar brought in north side ; excrement carried away. 
6:06 — A black insect, apparently a cricket, brought in north side. 
6 : 1 5 — Small objects brought in at north side. 
6:17 — Small objects brought in at north side. 
6 125 — A caterpillar brought ; excrement carried away. 
6 133 — Caterpillar brought through east side. 
6 : 34 — Food brought through north side. 
6 138 — Caterpillar brought ; excrement carried away. 
6 145 — Food brought in at north side; excrement carried away. 
FEEDING HABITS OF THE CHIPPING SPARROW 
IO9 
6 : 57 — Food brought in at north side ; excrement carried away. 
7 :io — Food brought in at north side. 
7:16 — Food brought in at north side. The sky is clouded, and the 
atmosphere is now becoming dark. 
7 :27 — Both parents returned; one came through east side, and the 
other through the north side. One had a large caterpillar, 
and the other apparently also had one. Both fed and flew 
away at once. 
7 ;3 6 — One bird came in at north side; fed and flew away at once. 
7 :49 — Now quite dark. One bird flew in, probably the female, got 
on the nest a moment and then got off and wandered 
round the tree a minute. Then at 7 :50 it settled down on 
the nest. The young birds poked their heads up for two 
or three minutes, but the old bird remained quiet, and the 
young soon withdrew their heads. This was the end of the 
day’s work for the busy parents. 
The reason that the side of the tree through which the birds entered 
was recorded was that it was believed that one of the parents always 
came through the north side, and the other the east side. But the 
difference in the sexes is so slight that it was impracticable to be cer- 
tain of the facts of the case. 
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 
During this busy day the parent birds had made almost two 
hundred visits to the nest, bringing food nearly every time, 
though some of the trips seemed to be made to furnish grit 
for the grinding of the food. There was no long interval 
when they were not at work, the longest period between visits 
having been twenty-seven minutes. Soft-bodied caterpillars 
were the most abundant elements of the food, but crickets and 
crane-flies (Fig. 1) were also seen, and doubtless a great variety 
of insects was taken. The precise determination of the most of 
the food brought was, of course, impossible, the observations 
having been undertaken especially to learn the regularity of 
the feeding habits of the adult birds. That they were busy 
from daylight to dark with no long intermission at any time is 
shown by the record, and the observation is submitted as a 
contribution to our knowledge of a subject in which much 
guessing has been done on account of the lack of definite 
information. 
The chipping sparrow is one of the most abundant and 
familiar of our birds. It seeks its nesting site in the vicinity of 
