WESTERN BIRDS Sparrow 



GENUS ZONOTRICHIA: GOLDEN- 

 CROWNED SPARROW. 



Golden-Crowned Sparrow: Zonotrichia coronata. 

 FAMILY— FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETQ. 



Oftentimes in the flocks of the Gambel Sparrows 

 on the Pacific Coast, one is delighted to behold a bird 

 that is similar in size and plumage, save for the crown 

 of the head, which is yellow and black, the stripe start- 

 ing from the bill being yellow in front, but gray farther 

 back, and the enclosing stripes being a deep broad black. 

 These showy Sparrows breed in Alaska and the far north, 

 wintering from southern Oregon down the coast, some- 

 times straggling during migrations to Nevada and 

 Colorado. 



Never are they abundant as are the White-crowns 

 (Gambels) and sometimes none are seen all winter long. 

 Their song is quite different from their cousin's, but is 

 inspirational and easy to imitate. It consists of three 

 whistles in a descending scale, each whistle long drawn 

 out and deliberate. It is the quality of the notes, the 

 soft liquidness of them, that makes them so beautiful. 

 Would that we might more often hear and see these 

 charming birds. 



GENUS ZONOTRICHIA: WHITE- 

 THROATED SPARROW. 



White-Throated Sparrow: Zonotrichia albicolHs. 



FAMILY— FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



A BIRD which is closely allied to these White-crowned 

 Sparrows is a rare winter visitor on the western coast, 



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