CALIFORNIA RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW 931 



AIMOPHILA RUFICEPS RUFICEPS (Cassin) 



California Rufous -crowned Sparrow 



PLATE 51 



Contributed by Howard L. Cogswell 

 Habits 



John Cassin (1852) described the bird now kno%\Ti as the rufous- 

 cro\\'ned sparrow from specimens A. L. Heermann collected on the 

 Calaveras River, California, presumably in foothills east of Stockton 

 and thus in the northern part of the range of the nominate race as it 

 is now designated. Four years later, and presumably from the same 

 specimens, J. Cassin (1856) illustrated the species nicely in color. 

 However he still gave it the most inappropriate vernacular name of 

 "western swamp sparrow," stating that the birds "live in the vicinity 

 of the shores of the ocean and the margins of streams of fresh water." 

 How he obtained such a completely erroneous idea of the habitat of 

 this predominantly dry hUl country bird is not clear. Apparently all 

 he had to base it on were A. L. Heermann's skimpy notes, which he 

 quotes as follows: "In the fall of 1851, I met with a single specimen 

 of this bird, in company with a jflock of sparrows of various kinds. 

 In the spring of 1852, I found it quite abundant on the Calaveras 

 River, where I procured several specimens. Its flight appeared 

 feeble, and when raised from the ground, from which it would not 

 start untU almost trodden upon, it would fly a short distance, and 

 immediately drop again into the grass." 



Its shy nature and inconspicuous song, coupled with the discomfort 

 attending any pursuit or wait for such a bird in its typical habitat 

 of dry hillside grass with scattered or open brush or rocks, are doubtless 

 partly responsible for the scant attention given this species since the 

 1850s, In the San Francisco Bay region Joseph Grinnell and Mar- 

 garet W. Wythe (1927) refer to it as being "closely restricted to open 

 sunny hillsides clothed sparsely with chaparral particularly California 

 sage." In that region this plant (Artemisia calijomica) is widespread 

 on steep, south- or west-facing slopes with poor or little soil (Grinnell, 

 1914b) . WiUiam Brewster (1879) states, based upon information from 

 C. A. AUen of Marin County, that: 



"They * * * are found in considerable numbers every season on 

 all the mountains about Nicasio. Black Mountain, however, seems 

 to be their stronghold. It is destitute of forests and the exceedingly 

 steep, rocky sides are abundantly clothed with 'wild oats' and a bush 

 very like the sweet-scented southern-wood. Another shrub, called 

 by hunters the 'spit-bush' is also characteristic of the locality, which is 

 otherwise dry, and barren to a degree. The males sing from the tops 

 of these low bushes." 



