. Bulletin. Agriculture -- New Hampshire. An Observation on the Feeding Habits of the Chipping Sparrow BY CLARENCE M. WEED. IT is now generally acknowledged that birds are of great importance as checks upon insect life. The studies made by several American investi- gators upon the food of birds have shown beyond all doubt that these feathered allies of the farmer are essential to successful agriculture. In the investigations yet recorded there have been comparatively few observations of the pre- cise daily feeding habits of birds under natural conditions. This is necessarily so because of the
. Bulletin. Agriculture -- New Hampshire. An Observation on the Feeding Habits of the Chipping Sparrow BY CLARENCE M. WEED. IT is now generally acknowledged that birds are of great importance as checks upon insect life. The studies made by several American investi- gators upon the food of birds have shown beyond all doubt that these feathered allies of the farmer are essential to successful agriculture. In the investigations yet recorded there have been comparatively few observations of the pre- cise daily feeding habits of birds under natural conditions. This is necessarily so because of the difficulty of making such observations. In this short bulletin I wish to record a series of observations made during one long day in June (the zzd) by my assistant, Mr. W. F. Fiske, and myself upon a family of chippmg sparrows {^Spizella socialis) that had nested in a small juniper near a window from inside of which they could easily be watched. The nest contained three young sparrows, so nearly full grown that they hopped out of the nest the second day after these records were made. The observations began at 3 : 40 , somewhat before full daylight. The bird was then on the nest and remained there quietly for ten minutes. From this I judged that the daily task had not yet begun, it being too dark before 3 140 for even the early worm to be seen. Between 3 : 50 and 3 : 55 the bird left the nest, returning at 3 : 57 with a small object, apparently a piece of earthworm, in its beak. Three hungry looking mouths were widely opened, into one of which the morsel was. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station. [Hanover, N. H. ] : New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station
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