Florence A. Merriam, Bird-Lore: Volume I, No. 1 — For Young Observers… (1899)
“ He is a dear, plump little bird, who sits in the sun and throws up his head and chippers away so happily that people call him the Chipping Sparrow. He comes to the doorstep and looks up at you as if he knew you wanted to feed him, and if you scatter crumbs on the piazza he will pick them up and hop about on the floor as if it were his piazza as well as yours. ”
Florence A. Merriam, Bird-Lore: Volume I, No. 1 — For Young Observers… (1899)
“ When the little birds first come out of the shell their eyes are shut tight, like those of little kittens when they are first born. If you are very gentle you can stroke the backs of the little ones as they sit waiting for the old birds to feed them. I remember one plum tree nest on a branch so low that a little girl could look into it. One day when the mother bird was brooding the eggs the little girl crept close up to the tree, so close she could look into Mother Chippy's eyes, and the trustful bird never stirred, but just sat and looked back at her. ”
Florence A. Merriam, Bird-Lore: Volume I, No. 1 — For Young Observers… (1899)
“ But if you live on the piazza of a house, with a barn in the back yard, you can find so many nice long hairs that you can sometimes make your whole nest of them. I have seen a Chippy’s nest that hadn’t another thing in it—that was just a coil of black horse hair. After you have built your nest and are looking for food for your young it is most convenient to be near a house. The worms you want for your nestlings are in the garden, and the seeds you like for a lunch for ourself are on the weeds mixed up with the lawn grass. ”
