998 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part 2 



nests. Free water is apparently not necessary for these birds when 

 insects are available. 



Smyth and Bartholomew (1966) comment: "The black-throated 

 sparrow's use of drinking water in the field seems to depend on its 

 diet. During the late spring and early fall, stomachs contain almost 

 exclusively seeds and gravel and the birds regularly drink at water- 

 holes even when maximum temperatures are as low as 9° C But as 

 soon as green grass and herbs appear after the first rains — in 1964 

 these fell in mid-November — the sparrows are no longer seen at 

 water holes and can be found in small, widely scattered flocks far 

 from the water holes. At this time their stomachs contain green 

 material as w^ell as seeds and gravel, their bills are stained green, and 

 they can be seen often pecking at green vegetation. Then when day- 

 flying insects become more abundant in February these are eaten, 

 sometimes almost exclusively, and this diet allows the sparrows to be 

 independent of drinking water throughout the breeding season. A 

 few adults can be seen coming to drink in June, and the numbers of 

 birds visiting water and the number of visits to water per bird then 

 increase until by August each bird visits, on the average, about twice 

 daily. The young are fed insects, particularly grasshopper abdomens. 



"The foraging habits of black-throated sparrows are, of course, 

 reflected in their diet. They spend much of their time on the ground 

 picking seeds or pecking at seed-husks or green grass and herbs, but 

 in the spring and early summer they often fly up, either from the 

 ground or a low shrub, after some flying insect. At this time, too, 

 they often forage in such trees as mesquite, catclaw, and desert 

 willow, obviously for insects." 



Voice. — The song of the black-throated sparrow is pleasant and 

 distinctive, but also complex and difficult to describe. M. H. and 

 J. B. Swenk (1928) met the bird in the deserts of Arizona: " * * * as 

 soon as we entered the edge of the desert north of Tucson we heard a 

 new bird voice in the tinkling, canary-Hke song of this bird. Soon we 

 saw several of them * * * and had the opportunity of listening to 

 several males in full, ecstatic song. The song was rapidly given and 

 sustained and frequently included triplets of what sounded like double- 

 toned notes." 



W. P. Taylor (1912) reports that "The song is imperfectly repre- 

 sented by the foUowing syllables, 'queet! queet! toodle-oodle-oodle- 

 oodle!' with a rising inflection on the 'queets.' In a variation of the 

 song a note is apparent resembhng somewhat a call of the western 

 lark sparrow." This resemblence was also noted by Mrs. Bailey 

 (1928) in New Mexico, where a song "heard frequently on the Pecos, 

 given with a burr like that of the Lark Sparrow was 'tra-ree-rah, ree- 

 rah-ree.' " 



