36 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



By careless observers this Sparrow is often 

 mistaken for the White-throat, though the diiTer- 

 ence in the coloration of the two is very marked. 

 In the first place, the White-crown lacks entirely 

 the yellow patch before the eye, the white stripe 

 over the eye, and white patch on the throat, all 

 of which are conspicuous markings of the White- 

 throat's plumage. Then, too, the White-throat's 

 head is much more nearly flat on the crown than 

 is the White-crown's, which is distinctly dome- 

 shaped. On the other hand. White-crowns and 

 White-throats frequently associate, and feed 

 together, and their manners are not unlike. 



There is, however, little similarity in the songs 

 of the birds, and the \\'hite-throat's will be con- 

 sidered the better of the two probably by most 

 listeners. This is by no means intended to dis- 

 parage the effort of the White-crowned minstrel, 

 which has a singular sweetness and effective- 

 ness all its own. Indeed. Mr. Burroughs con- 

 siders the White-crown " a vastly finer songster 

 than the White-throat." As described by Mr. 

 Mathews, " it is comjjosed of six, or at the most, 

 seven notes (unless it is doubled) ; the first one 

 is twice as long as the others which are of about 

 even value. The intervals are fairly accurate 

 and include anything from a third to a fifth ; all 

 the notes are clearly whistled except (generally) 

 the two next to the last, and these are distinctly 

 double-toned or burred ; the whole is marked 

 by an even crescendo to the highest note, which 

 is next to or within one of the last, or some- 

 times actually the last." The song has something, 

 though rather less, of the plaintive quality which 



characterizes that of the White-throat, and like 

 that bird's is also often heard at night. 



In western North America there are two varie- 

 ties of the White-crowned Sparrow, riambel's 

 Sparrow (Zonotrichia Iciicof^Jirys (jauibdi) and 

 Nuttall's Sparrow {Zoiwtiichia Iciicoplirys luit- 

 talli). Gambel's Sparrow averages a trifle smaller 

 than the White-crowned; its coloration is similar, 

 but the lores is entirely white, thus making the 

 light-colored stripe over the eye continuous to 

 the bill. Nuttall's Sparrow also has this unin- 

 terru]jted stripe, but its general coloration is 

 much darker and its size smaller than Gambel's 

 Sparrow. Gambel's Sparrow is not found in the 

 Pacific coast district of the United States while 

 that is the home-land of Nuttall's Sparrow. 



Like most of the family these birds are seed- 

 eaters by preference, and insects comprise very 

 little more than 7 per cent, of their diet. Cater- 

 pillars are the largest item, with some beetles, 

 a few ants and wasps, and some bugs, among 

 which are black-olive scales. The great bulk 

 of the food, however, consists of weed seeds, 

 which amount to 74 per cent, of the whole. In 

 California these birds have been accused of eat- 

 ing the buds and blossoms of fruit trees, but 

 buds or blossoms were found in only thirty out 

 of 516 stomachs, and probably it is only- under 

 exceptional circumstances that they do any <lam- 

 age in this way. Evidently neither the farmer 

 nor the fruit grower has much to fear from 

 White-crowned Sparrows. The little fruit they 

 eat is mostly wild, and the grain eaten is waste 

 or volunteer. 



GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW 



Zonotrichia coronata ( Pallas) 



A. <). U. Xuinl). 



Other Name. — rioldeii-crown. 



General Description.— Length, 6.54 inches. Plum- 

 age, gray. light below, and dark with streaks of brown 

 above. Bill, small, compressed-conical ; wings, long 

 and pointed; tail, about the length of wing, rounded or 

 slightly double rounded. 



Color. — Adult Male: Crown, deep black, divided 

 medially by a broad stripe of oUvc-yclloiv, changing 

 rather abruptly to light gray on back of head : upper 

 parts, grayish olive-brown, the back and shoulders 

 broadly streaked with brownish black, these streaks 

 with a marginal suffusion of chestnut-brown ; outer 

 webs of innermost greater wing-coverts and inner wing- 

 quills inclining to chestnut-brown ; middle and greater 



coverts, tipped with white, forming two distinct bands ; 

 sides of head, dull grayish ; under parts, dull brownish 

 gray, somewhat paler on chin and throat, nearly white 

 on abdomen. li,ght buffy brownish color on sides and 

 flanks; under tail-coverts, light grayish-brown or drab, 

 broadly margined with pale buffy ; iris, brown. Adult 

 Fem.«,le: Similar to the male, sometimes hardly dis- 

 tinguishable, but usually with the lateral black stripes 

 of the crown narrower and less intensely black, the 

 yellow of the crown-spot rather paler, and the gray of 

 back of head streaked with dusky. Immature (Young 

 IN First Winter?^) : Similar to adult female, but with- 

 out any lateral black stripe on crown or well-defined 

 center stripe, the whole forehead and front portion of 



