1358 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 3 



When the spring molt is completed these western representatives of the 

 Zonotrichiae are resplendent in a new plumage with very little difference if any 

 between the sexes. No one who has noticed the frayed ragamuffins of late 

 February and March and the stunning beauties of late April can doubt that the 

 exposed contour plumage has been entirely renewed. 



Before leaving the breeding grounds the adult birds undergo a 

 complete postnuptial molt in which the bright head pattern is generally 

 replaced by a considerably duller one. As Joseph Mailliard (1932), 

 Emerson A. Stoner (1955), and Anna M. Smith (1958) have all noted, 

 the crown stripes of adults in winter vary greatly, and at least five 

 distinct types are recognizable. Whether these reflect sex or, more 

 likely, age or vigor of the individual has not yet been determined 

 satisfactorily. 



Food. — On its California wintering grounds the golden-crowned 

 sparrow subsists almost entirely on vegetable matter. Foster E. 

 Beal (1910) reports: "For the determination of its food 184 stomachs 

 were available, taken from October to April, inclusive. The animal 

 food amounts to 0.9 percent, vegetable to 99.1. 



" * * * It is evident that the golden-crown does not search for 

 insects, and takes only those that come in its way. * * * 



"Remains of buds and flowers were found in stomachs taken in 

 every month of the bird's stay in the State, except October and Novem- 

 ber, when buds are very small. They were found in 56 stomachs; 

 the average for the season is 29.5 percent, and in March it rises to 

 nearly 78 percent." 



Their fondness for buds and flowers does not make them welcome 

 in the garden. They take a heavy toll of annuals, especially in Cali- 

 fornia where many are planted in the autumn. They are particularly 

 hard on ranunculus, stocks, primulas, pansies, and even eat such 

 bitter leaves as those of calendulas. In the fall they do not hesitate 

 to eat chrysanthemum flowers, and they also take buds of ornamental 

 fruit trees and wistaria. They sometimes make serious inroads in 

 truck gardens in the path of their spring migration (see Spring), and 

 Edward W. Nelson (1881) notes they "claim their share of attention 

 as they levy their tax upon the garden" in the settlement at St. 

 Michael's, Alaska. 



Grinnell and Storer (1924) observe: "In foraging, these sparrows, 

 in scattered formation, advance out from the margins of the brush 

 patches onto open ground where they hop here and there seeking their 

 food, which is chiefly of a vegetable nature. They feed in particular 

 upon green seedlings of various 'weeds.' When the birds chop up 

 between the edges of their mandibles the sprouting succulent seedlings, 

 the exuding juice soils their faces and not infrequently even the plum- 

 age of their breasts. After the first rains have started the new growth 



