SCOTT'S RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW 929 



Voice. — The characteristic location note of the rufous-crowned 

 sparrow is a clear, thin, descending teew, usually given in a series 

 of three. The song is hardly as musical as this call, being a staccato 

 chittering that usually changes its pitch two or three tunes in the 

 course of the outpoiu-ing. Aiken (1937) likens it to a softened house 

 wren's song. There are also the usual short sparrow alarm notes. 

 As befits a bird usually well hidden, the calls and song carry well, 

 and may often be heard across a small canyon or barranca. The 

 song is usually delivered from atop a rock or bush, or from low in 

 a small tree. It is often introduced by three longer, somewhat more 

 distinct and spaced out chips. In Nayarit I hoard a faint, rising 

 seep, like that of a gi'een-tailed or rufous-sided towhee, which I 

 attribute to this species. Presumably some fathers of small young 

 give the extraordinary performances of A. r. eremoeca also (Nice, 1929). 



Field marks. — Besides the voice, the principal field mark is a com- 

 plete white eye ring, set off against solidly dark cheeks and sides of 

 the neck. The pale malar area is bordered by a sharp black line 

 below, but not above. Otherwise the bird is very plain, adults having 

 no dark or pale streaks, wing bars, taU patches, or central crown 

 stripe. The pale gray superciliary in adults is bordered by rufous 

 above (whole crown) and below (line back from eye) ; it passes into 

 white at and before the eye. 



Enemies. — Presumably the rufous-crowned sparrow is not immune 

 to the enemies of most sparrows, but little is know^n of the subject. 

 Its habitat is not generally attractive to either Accipiter hawks or 

 cowbirds, and its principal losses might thus be attributed to snakes 

 and mammaUan predators. H. Friedmann (1963) lists no record 

 of cowbird parasitism. Very likely, however, the old report of a 

 brown-headed cowbird parasitizing a rufous-winged sparrow at San 

 Antonio, Texas, really refers to this species; A. carpalis does not 

 occur in Texas. 



Fall and winter. — There can be no doubt that most ruf ous-crow^ned 

 sparrows remain on or near their breeding grounds in winter, in 

 singles or pairs. They evidently descend from higher altitudes to 

 the adjacent high Lower Sonoran Zone during times of deep snow. 

 They do not form flocks. 



The question of w^hether some individuals migrate remains open. 

 I have received several reports of rufous-crowned sparrows at points 

 well away from any breeding haunts in migration or winter; but in 

 no case was the identity proved by a specimen; nor was the bud 

 even trapped in the cases of the Arizona reports. The one valid 

 published record of a migrant probably of this race is from Sulphur 

 Springs Valley (presumably), Ariz., Apr. 18, 1895 (Osgood, 1903). 



