THE GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW. 133 



General Range. — Pacific Coast and Ueriiig Sea districts of Alaska; south 

 in winter thru the Pacific States to Lower California: occasionally straggles 

 eastward. 



Range in Washington. — S])ring and fall migrant both sides of the Cascades, 

 more comnKin westerly. 



Migrations. — Spring: c. April 21 (West-side) ; c. May 20 (Chelan). 

 Authorities. — ? Einbcrica atricapiUa And. Orn. Biog. V. 1839, 47; pi. 394. 

 Baird, Rep. I'ac. R. R. Surv. \'oI. LX. 1858, 462. C&S. L". D'. Kb. Ra. Kk. B. E. 

 Specimens. — V . of W. Prov. E. 



REGAL thci he Ije, this sparrow is discreet in the matter of appearances, 

 and does imt cultivate the pul)lic eye. Washington is only a way-station 

 in his travels, and the splendors and liberties of court life are reserved for 

 Alaska. Appearing- at Tacoma during the last week in April, demure 

 companies of Golden-crowns may not infrequently be seen associated with 

 migrating Xuttalls. They are in no hurry, or perhaps the haste of midnight 

 flight is over when we see them vawning sleepilv in the bushes of a morning. 

 The}" are languid ton as they deploy upon the park lawns, always within 

 reach of cover, in search (jf fallen seeds or lurking beetles. Their leisurely 

 mo\-ements contrast strongly with the bustling activities of the local Nuttalls : 

 for tlie latter are burdened witli the care of children, before the Alaskan 

 migrants ha\'e forsworn bachelorhood. East of the Cascade jMountains the 

 niirthward movement of this species is even more tardy, and ]\Iay 18-22 are 

 the dates at which I ha\'e recorded it at Chelan. 



[Migrating Zonotrichias are all coquettishly retiring, and the first hint 

 of danger sends them scuttling into the bushes. If one presses up to the 

 edge of the brush, he may hear an uncanny rustling among the leaves and 

 branches as the l)irds retreat, but not a single note is uttered. Left to them- 

 seh-es, the birds become sociable with many ziuks common to the genus ; and, 

 if unusually merry, the Golden-crowns indulge a sweet, preparatory hoo he^e 

 which reminds one of Ijoth the W'hite-crowned (Z. leiicophrys) and W'hite- 

 throated (Z. albicollis) Sparrows of the East; but the song has never been 

 completed here to our knowledge. 



Suckley said that Golden-crowned Sparrows were abundant in summer 

 both at Fort Dalles and Fort Steilacoom, but this was undoubtedly a mistake, 

 as the records of alleged nesting in California proved to be. On the other 

 hand they may winter with us tO' some extent, since ]\Ir. Bowles took a 

 specimen on December t6, 1907, in the Puyallup \^alley. 



