WESTERN BIRDS Sparrow 



It is about five and one-half inches long and wears a 

 reddish-brown cap which has given it its name. Some- 

 times there is a short black line starting from the bill in 

 middle of crown. The upper parts are brownish lightly 

 streaked with darker; the sides of head and under parts 

 are light gray; black stripes border the throat. Though 

 the bird lacks the white line above the eye, and the black 

 line through the eye as has the Chipping Sparrow, still 

 there is a resemblance between the two species. 



These Sparrows are locally common in the foothills, 

 where one may hear their plaintive, yet liquid, dear, dear, 

 dear, as they flit about on the weed stalks or low bushes. 

 A scolding note is a short, sharp one given as rapidly as 

 possible. A soft sit is another. 



On the 10th of April several years ago it was my good 

 fortune to come upon a pair of these Rufous-crowned 

 Sparrows nesting on a brush-covered hillside near a 

 canyon. There were plenty of more secluded places the 

 bird might have chosen since this one was in the private 

 grounds of a family, and situated just above their chicken 

 yard. 



The nest was placed directly on the ground under a 

 clump of grass over which white convolvulus was twin- 

 ing. In the same clump there were blooming wild Owl's 

 clover, brodiseas, and lupines. The nest itself resembled 

 that of the Song Sparrow, being made of brown grasses, 

 lined with finer fibers and a few horse hairs. It con- 

 tained three pure white eggs, which were so large that so 

 far as size went they might better have belonged to a 

 Towhee. 



In my watching of this nest I found that the female 

 did all the brooding, leaving the nest when she wanted 

 food, and that the male was not much in evidence. 



The female was a close sitter, staying at one time 

 one hour and thirty-one minutes on the nest, and an- 

 other time I watched one hour and forty-six minutes 

 before she left the nest and slipped stealthily through 



189 



