A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
621 
season when the sociable Chippy has gone south. Why it 
is called Tree Sparrow is not so plain, as it does not build 
in trees as frequently as the Chippy, and it haunts low bushes. 
Chipping Sparrow: Spizella socialis. S. R. 
Hair-bird, Chippy. 
Length: 5-5.25 inches. 
Male and Female: Dark chestnut poll, gray stripe over eye, brown 
stripe through it. Stripes along back, dark orange and brown. 
Wings and tail dust-brown. Under parts light gray. Young with 
some black streaks on crown. Bill black ; feet light. 
Song: An insect-like tremolo, varying a little in tone from a locust. 
Call note, “ Chip-chip ! ” 
Season: Common summer resident; April to October. 
Nest. In bushes and also high trees, made of fine grasses and lined 
with horsehair — hence the name, Hair-bird. 
Eggs: 4, greenish blue, with' dark brown speckles. 
This is the precentor who, in early May dawns, gives the 
key on his little pitch-pipe and leads the chorus that makes 
four o’clock the most melodious hour of the day. T-r-r-r-r-r-r- 
r-r-r-r-r-r he trills from the ground, before even a Robin wakes, 
and then, as the music swells, he is lost in the harmony. 
Who can fail to know the Chippy, whose mite of a gray- 
brown body is set off by a chestnut-colored velvet cap, whose 
chirp, as he hops about the door craving crumbs, is as familiar 
as his pretty air of sociability. 
Field Sparrow: Spizella pusilla. S. R. 
Length: 5.25-5.75 inches. 
Male and Female. Pale red beak. Bright bay on the back between 
wings. Crown dull chestnut, no black or white. Whitish wing 
bars, tail longer than wings, below grayish white; very light- 
colored feet. 
Song: Very pleasing and melodious, “ Whee-whee-whee-iddle, iddle, 
iddle, ee ! ” 
Season: Common summer resident. 
Nest: Of grass, in low shrubs or on ground. 
Eggs: 4, cloudy white, spotted and specked with brown. 
This is the tuneful Sparrow of fields and meadows that, 
rising as you approach, goes with a wavering flight to the next 
rift of grasses, never letting you come near it, and yet not ap- 
pearing to be shy. 
