CASSIN'S SPARROW 987 



feathers light ash gray; upper tail-coverts with roundish, cordate, or transverse 

 subterminal spots of blackish, and margined terminally with pale grayish; middle 

 rectrices light brownish gray, with a narrow, pointed median stripe of dusky, this 

 more or less irregular or serrated along edges, the points throwing off more or less 

 distinct indications of darker bars across the gray on either side; edge of wing pale 

 yellow; under parts with chest, sides, and flanks very i)ale brownish gray, the 

 flanks sometimes distinctly (often broadly) streaked with brown or dusky; else- 

 where beneath dull white (under tail-coverts sometimes pale bufify) ; sides of throat 

 sometimes marked with a dusky submalar streak. 



The bill is dusky, moderate in size, but somewhat broad at the 

 base. The wings are short and rounded, the tail long and rounded. 

 Legs and feet are flesh-colored. The iris is brown. 



Food. — Food of the Cassin's sparrow^ consists of insects during the 

 nesting season and seeds the remainder of the j^ear. Joe T. Marshall, 

 Jr., A\Tites that the stomachs of two specimens taken July 27, 1951 in 

 the Santa Kita mountains of Arizona were full of green caterpillars 

 and shiny small beetles. In Midland, Texas, Cassm's sparrows eat 

 caterpillars diu-ing the spring months. In the winter they eat what- 

 ever small weed and grass seeds are available. MUo (a grain sorghum) 

 was eaten by the species at a feeding station, and a Cassin's sparrow 

 was caught in a trap baited with fine "chick chow" consisting of 

 ground corn and milo. Flower buds of the blackthorn bush (Condalia 

 spathulata) are eaten in season. 



Cassin's sparrows seem to exist very well -without drinking water. 

 In 20 years in w^est Texas, where the species is abundant, the authors 

 have seen cassinii drink water only four times. Nesting areas of 

 these fringUlids are often some distance from water, and the birds 

 rarely leave their territories. 



Behavior. — George M. Sutton and Thomas D. Biuieigh (1941) 

 comment that the Cassin's sparrow "is an exceeding inconspicuous 

 bird when not singing." N. S. Goss (1891) says, "It is very shy and 

 retiring in its habits, and when approached darts from bush to bush, 

 or runs, skulks and hides like mice, and it is no easy matter to flush 

 it from its hiding place." 



Both male and female are conspicuous during the courtship chases, 

 but after courtship ceases, only the males are visible until late summer, 

 when the mesquite-covered pastures are suddenly full of streaked 

 young cassinii. The young chase the adults, calling "tze, tze, tze" 

 all the while. The young are not so reluctant to show themselves as 

 the adults, and as many as a dozen may perch in plain sight in a small 

 area. 



Throughout the remainder of the year it is difficult to find a Cassin's 

 sparrow, even in an area where the species is plentiful, for they spend 

 their lives on the ground, amidst tall grasses. After a cold winter 

 night, when the sun comes up and begins warming the an Cassin's 



