WESTERN BIRDS Sparrow 



belli. The upper parts of Bell are gray, usually not dis- 

 tinctly streaked; the edge of wing is yellowish, and the 

 black tail feathers are indistinctly marked with lighter. 

 One cannot help but rejoice that this little bird is not a 

 bundle of brown stripes as are so many of his relatives, 

 and that he is just a little different from most of the 

 Sparrows. 



GENUS AMPHISPIZA: SAGE 

 SPARROW. 



Sage Sparrow: Amphispiza nevadensis nevadensis. 

 FAMILY— FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



This bird, as the name indicates, is a dweller of the 

 arid regions where grows the sage, being a characteristic 

 inhabitant of the Great Basin region of the western 

 United States, west to the eastern base of the Sierra 

 Nevada, south from central Washington and Wyoming 

 to southeastern California and southern Colorado, win- 

 tering from southeastern California, southern Nevada, 

 and southern Utah to Arizona, southern New Mexico and 

 southwestern Texas. 



It is about six inches long and has grayish brown upper 

 parts with the back usually narrowly, but distinctly, 

 streaked; the under parts are light with the white throat 

 set off by dusky streaks, a distinctive marking. The eye 

 ring, line extending back from eye, and sometimes a 

 short median line on forehead, are white; sometimes the 

 bird has the dusky spot on center of breast, the sides and 

 flanks buffy and streaked with dusky; the wings and 

 tail are dull black with light brownish or pale grayish 

 edgings, outer web of lateral tail feather white. The 

 young birds resemble those of the preceding species in 

 having the chest streaked and two buffy wing bars. 



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