CALIFORNIA RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW 933 



Range of Kerii County H. Sheldon (1909a) found the species "quite 

 plentiful * * * inhabiting the wild gooseberry thickets in the canyons 

 and in such patches growing among rock piles on the hills." Scattered 

 trees, usually oaks, may also be present in some areas where rufous- 

 crowned sparrows breed, but as J. R.. Pemberton (1910) notes in the 

 hills of southern Alameda County, "The bu'ds seldom leave the bushes 

 for the oaks, their favorite perches being the tops of the sage." 



Harry S. Swarth (1917) notes this race in shrubless foothill areas 

 east of Fresno: "As many as ten or twelve might be observed in the 

 course of half an hour. The hills they frequented are devoid of 

 brush or trees of any sort, and the sparrows resorted for shelter to the 

 numerous rock piles and outcroppings. Here, in company with a 

 large Rock Wren population, they seemed to find congenial surround- 

 ings despite the lack of vegetation of a size to afford shelter." 



Spring and courtship. — Despite references to it in the early literature 

 as a summer resident, the rufous-crowned sparrow is apparently 

 essentially a permanent resident wherever it occurs in California. 

 The onset of regular singing in March was probably the feature that 

 called this otherwise obscure bird to Charles Allen's attention in 

 Marin County at that season (Brewster, 1879). Near Milpitas, Santa 

 Clara County, Barlow (1902) found them present in pairs in a nesting 

 area as early as March 23, but apparently not yet nesting; the males 

 were singing despite a cold north wind. 



No notes on the courtship of the race ruficeps seem to have been 

 pubhshed, and the literature contains no precise account of the 

 behavior of adults of the species during this phase of the breeding 

 cycle; presumably it differs little from that of A. r. canescens which 

 will be described farther on. 



Nesting. — Nearly all authors who have reported finding nests of 

 this species have commented on the difficulty of locating them. 

 Nests are apparently almost always on the ground, and usually sunk 

 into a small hollow so the nest rim is flush with the ground surface 

 (Grinnell and Wythe, 1927). Charles G. Sibley (MS.) reports them 

 "rarely in bushes close to the ground." 



Brewster (1877) describes the first nest Charles A. Allen found on 

 Black Mountain near Nicasio, Marin County, July 10, 1875, as: 

 "very loosely put together, and the original shape is so nearly destroyed 

 that measurements are almost impracticable. An approximation 

 would, however, be nearly as follows: External diameter, 4 inches; 

 internal, 2.25 inches. External depth, 2 inches; internal, 1,25 inches. 

 * * * The locahty was an open heathy tract on the mountain-side, 

 and the nest was placed on the ground under a bush." 



Writing of a nest he found in the hills beyond Hayward, Liver- 

 more, and Mount Hamilton July 8, 1908, Pemberton (1910) says it 



