952 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 2 



Voice. — The various call notes of this race seem identical with those 

 described under A. r. ruficeps. The "skitter" call of the pair-reunion 

 duet is described above under the section on courtship. The full song, 

 used for advertising purposes in the territory by the male, is a jimable 

 of listless and spirited notes resembUng in general pattern the song of 

 a lazuli (or an indigo) bunting but lower in volume and with less 

 musical tone. One I heard Mar. 27, 1941 in South Pasadena I 

 syllabified as chi-chi-chew, CHU, tsi-tsi- ti -tsi -ti, tweeee. The pitch 

 varied somewhat throughout, but only the ti notes and the final, 

 unemphatic short trill were distinctly lower. In general the song has 

 less tendency toward a see-saw rhythm or doubled note sequence than 

 that of the bunting. It is of comparable length, usually about 2 

 seconds. 



The resemblance of the rufous-crown's song to that of the lazuli 

 bunting has impressed so many acquainted with both birds in the 

 field, beginning with William Brewster (1879), that one wonders why 

 Ralph Hoffmann (1927) wrote that "the song of the Rufous-crowned 

 Sparrow is short, with Httle carrying power, and is not given freely; 

 it suggests a somewhat feeble Song Sparrow." In my experience the 

 songs of both A. r. canescens and A. r. ruficeps lack the typical intro- 

 ductory notes and sharply distinct timbres of the remainder of the 

 song sparrow's performance. Perhaps some of the birds on the off- 

 shore islands or in other local situations have developed other patterns. 



William Leon Dawson (1923) writes most extensively of this aspect 

 of the voice: 



The song of the Rufous-crown is one of the freshest, most vivacious and en- 

 gaging, as well as varied, of all that may be heard upon our southern hillsides. 

 Its vivacity is wren-like. * * * [It] has the spontaneity of a Winter Wren's, but its 

 volume, duration, and cadence are rather those of the Lazuli Bunting. My 

 attention was once caught by a spirited passage-at-arms and pursuit between a 

 Lazuli Bunting and a Brown Towhee, and I passed on, musing upon the ways of 

 Lazulis, when a song burst forth at my elbow near the roadside. Suit suit zul eh 

 stutz tuzzuzzu wei, said the voice, and I should have let it pass for the song of the 

 Lazuli if curiosity had not been provoked by its nearness. There in a brush-clump 

 not ten feet away sat a Rufous-crowned Sparrow vigorously delivering himself of 

 the stolen (?) song. Fortunately, the Lazuli returned presently to defend his 

 honors, and I had ample opportunity to make a critical comparison of their 

 songs. The resemblance is, after all, superficial, due rather to the accidental 

 characters before enumerated than to quality. The Sparrow's song is more 

 sprightly, more varied, and of a sharper, more penetrating quality. It is rather 

 less musical, and it lacks altogether that caressing drawl which marks the Finch's 

 effort. A few moments later the Rufous-crown took a station well up in a 

 eucalyptus tree and burst forth with great regularity at intervals of ten seconds, 

 with each "performance" lasting about one and a half seconds. The song is so 

 little stereotyped that it contains hints now of Vesper, now of Lark Sparrow (in 

 the killy killy opening notes), now of Willow Goldfinch (for vivacity), but always, 

 most of all, of Lazuli Bunting. 



