ARIZONA BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW 1245 



brush, and she would then return like a Bell Sparrow, hopping on the 

 ground most of the way." 



The black-chinned sparrow apparently does not isolate itself from 

 other bird species during the summer, for Hardy (1949) observed one 

 drinking in the company of house finches in southern Nevada during 

 Jul}^ and August. 



Voice. — Joseph Ewan (1928), in relating his experiences in the 

 southern California mountains, says: "Few bird songs can compare 

 with that of the Black-chinned Sparrow. His trill is noticeably 

 canary-like, crj^stal-clear, and its melody often carries far down the 

 mountain glades. Beginning with emphasis, descending gradually, and 

 ending with low full tones; resembling sweet-sweet-te-te-te-tt-tt-t-t-t. 

 The length of the trill, and the richness of each note are remarkable." 



Dawson (1923) notes that there are actually two songs. The major 

 one is usually given in the morning: "Shrill, vibrant, penetrating, 

 \vith the incisiveness of a whip-crack, but infinitely sweeter, comes 

 each note, accelerando, until the trill is reached. Here the singer 

 becomes disheartened, and lets his melody peter out to an inglorious 

 finish." The second song alternates irregularly ^^dth the first, and is 

 "little more than a simple (and altogether different) trill. This 

 phrase begins with a single inspirated note, those which follow are 

 just distinct enough to be separated by the ear, while the terminal 

 portion becomes rapid and diminuendo, as before. This echo song, 

 moreover, is oftenest terminated, after the tiniest interval, by a 

 single cheep or tsweet of characteristic quality. It is as though the 

 singer had signed his name with a flourish to a performance which 

 we should not otherwise have recognized." Dawson heard this 

 "echo song" in the evening from chaparral high on a hillside and 

 transcribed it "TSEET chweet chweet chweet trrrrr." 



Dawson also describes the manner in which the male dehvers the song: 

 "As a singer he performs conscientiously, and with an eye single to 

 duty. He chooses elevated stations, a yucca stalk, the tip of the 

 taUest chamisal, or, rarely, a tree. He is quite demure in manner, 

 sitting pensive or turning calmly in the intervals which succeed his 

 song. But every five or ten minutes, prudence enjoins that he shift 

 his station, even though it be to another of equal prominence." 



Field marks. — The gray head and breast and pink bill give both 

 sexes a superficiallj^ junco-like appearance. The brown, streaked 

 back, white wing bars on brown wings, and habitat identify them. 

 Adult males, with their black chin patches except in winter, are 

 distinctive. 



Enemies. — Of its enemies, only the cowbird is known. Friedmann 

 (1963) writes: "This little known bird has been recorded only twice 

 as far as I know as a victim of the dwarf race of the brown-headed 



