1360 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part a 



octave above middle C] and with a gradual slur amounting to a 

 glissando it descends one tone to E flat where there is a slight break 

 and the E flat is struck again with a decided accent, passing a minor 

 third lower to C without any special marks of expression. This last 

 interval naturally pitches the song in C minor." He heard the 

 typical song given in five different keys ranging from a whole tone 

 higher (D minor) to a whole tone lower (B-flat minor), and noted 

 three variations. He adds: "The tempo is the same for all songs, 

 about 120 whole notes to the minute, although this may vary some- 

 what. The quality of tone is that of harmonics on the violin." 



The birds usually sing from the top of a bush or, if lower down, 

 from its periphery. In California they sing frequently from their 

 arrival in September through October. Although singing diminishes 

 during the winter, it does not stop entirely, and it picks up again 

 quickly when the days start to lengthen in early spring. Often in 

 the slack season one hears only the first two of the usual three minor 

 descending notes. A common variation in April has the third and 

 final note rising slightly instead of falling. Olaus J. Murie (1959) 

 writes from Alaska: "On one occasion I heard a distinct variation 

 of the song. Instead of three notes in descending scale, the usual 

 second and third notes were reversed. It was the normal song for 

 this bird, as I heard it day after day in the same clump of alder 

 near camp.'" 



D. D. McLean says in a letter to me: "The typical Zonotrichia 

 "chink" in the golden-crown is hard, insistent, and louder than in 

 most other species, and the "tizeet" note is sharper and not so slurred. 

 When feeding or loafing, the birds use much small talk of "chips," 

 "churrs," and a "plear, plear, plear, plear" used as a scold-like greet- 

 ing." Howard L. Cogswell writes me of hearing the three minor 

 notes followed by a soft trill, once in November at Sunland, Calif., 

 and twice in October near Pasadena. Peterson (1941) also remarks 

 "sometimes a faint final trill." Grinnell and Storer (1924) state: 

 "On occasion the Golden-crown is heard to indulge in a whisper song 

 which is so faint as to be heard only at a very few yards' range." 



Behavior. — On the wintering grounds the golden-crowned sparrows 

 are usually found in mixed flocks with white-crowned sparrows. 

 Often while watching white-crowns feeding on a lawn, one will notice 

 a few golden-crowns coming out of adjacent shrubbery, usually staying 

 close to the shrubbery and disappearing into it quickly when one 

 approaches. John B. Price (1931) notes "Although easier to trap 

 than the white-crowns, the golden-crowns are harder to observe in 

 the field as they keep more in the bushes." 



D. D. McLean writes me: "When feeding, this species is relatively 

 quarrelsome toward others of the same species and genus. * * * 



