BAIRD'S SPARROW 759 



small seeds are present. It would seem that the adult, in searching for food for 

 the j'ouug, consumes all the small insects it comes across which are not worthy 

 of a trip back to the young. Thus the "by-products" of its search for food for 

 the young are, in effect, a natural economy during the period when the demands 

 on the adult are great. 



The foregoing data were gathered during the early 1930's, when 

 severe drought conditions probably curtailed the varieties of food 

 available, but in 19G2, small green caterpillars formed the whole diet 

 for the first 5 days of the fledglings' life, and even after the parents 

 began bringing small grasshoppers to the nest on the sixth day, 

 caterpillars and moths still formed a large part of the daily food. 



Behavior. — The outstanding behavior characteristic of Baird's 

 bunting was noted the day the species was found. Audubon (1844) 

 wrote: "Several times Mr. Bell nearly trod on some of them, before 

 the birds would take to wing, and they almost instantaneously 

 re-alighted within a few steps, and then ran like mice through the 

 grass." 



This reluctance to fly is typical of the bird at all seasons, Allan 

 R. Phillips of Arizona, reporting data on four wintering specimens of 

 Baird's sparrows taken in Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico, writes 

 me: "All of these were lone birds, running mouselike in open grass- 

 land." 



On the summer territory the male spends the incubation period 

 patroling his home grounds, singing, feeding, and generally enjoying 

 the good life. The appearance of a hunting harrier hawk or short- 

 eared owl will cause him to lapse into silence and prudently take cover 

 in the ground vegetation. Sometimes, when the tinkle-bells are 

 silent, the entrance of humans into a field will immediately result 

 in the males resuming their singing, almost as though the birds 

 wanted to warn the intruders they were violating private property. 



The Baird's sparrow has an equable disposition and gets along well 

 with his neighbors. Only once have I seen one act aggressively 

 toward another species. While perched on a fence post singing to 

 his hidden mate, a Baird's male suddenly broke off to pursue a clay- 

 colored sparrow that had alighted on a strand of fence wire close by. 

 He returned shortly and spent five minutes preening his ruffled 

 feathers and regaining his composure. Then he resumed the serenade, 

 his throat pulsing and body quivering from the effort. 



On rare occasions a male Baird's sparrow will leave an elevation 

 and coast to the ground, singing as he goes, and continue the sere- 

 nade from his new position. 



He appears to be rather tardy in aiding his mate in the important 

 chore of providing food for the nestlings, for I have heard him still 

 singing bis regular matins and vespers several days after the young 

 appeared. However, the sangfroid with which he views the efforts 



