FINCHES 



37 



crown yellowish olive, more or less Hecked with dusky, 

 the back portion of the crown, liglit grayish-olive- 

 brown, streaked with dusky. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: In alder thickets of Alaska 

 streams ; constructed of coarse grass, weed stems, 

 rootlets; lined with fine grass; quite large, and loosely 

 built. Eggs: 4 or 5, pale greenish blue, distinctly 

 speckled with shades of brown and chestnut. 



Distribution. — Pacific coast and Bering Sea dis- 

 tricts of North America; breeding on the Shumagin 

 Islands, Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak, and more western 

 parts of the Alaskan mainland; migrating southward 

 in winter through southern Alaska, British Columbia, 

 Washington, Oregon, and California, to the San Pedro 

 Martir Mountains, Lower California, the Santa 

 Barbara Islands; occasional straggler eastward. 



Alaska is the home of the Golden-crowned 

 Sparrows. They nest during the month of June. 

 After the breeding season, the Golden-crowns 

 are somewhat erratic in their movements. Some 

 stay in the North for a while ; others begin strag- 

 gling off for the South, either alone or in small 

 flocks. As a rule, the Golden-crowns join with 

 the White-crowned Sparrows. Our acquaint- 

 anceship with the Golden-crowns begins late in 

 the fall when we ;-ee a small flock in the shrub- 

 berv and hedgerows through California. It is 

 easy to make friends with these Sparrows by 

 scattering a few crumbs along the paths. 



As far as I have observed, the Golden-crowns 

 <lo not sing much when traveling. I see them 

 each fall on their way through Oregon, but they 

 ;ire silent. I knew the bird best about the campus 

 of the University of California at lierkeley and 

 in Golden Gate Park at San Francisco. 



His mood is different from that of other birds. 

 It isn't the sun that makes him joyous; it is the 

 rain. Perhaps the lack of moisture in the Cali- 

 fornia climate makes him homesick. When a 

 rain does come, it reminds him so much of the 

 mist and showers of his northern home that he 

 cannot help breaking into song. The song of 

 the Golden-crown, therefore, is always associated 

 in my mind with a drizzling rain. It is a simple, 

 mournful lay in a high key. quite quavering at 

 times. It is a minor strain, each note lowered a 

 half step. 



In his last book. Field Davs in California, 

 Bradford Torrey speaks of meeting the Golden- 

 crowned Sparrow at Paso Robles. " T was soon 



close upon a flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows. 

 They were no novelty. I had seen many like 

 them. P)Ut these were in song ; and that was a 

 novelty; a brief and simple tune, making me 

 think of the opening notes of the eastern White- 

 throat, but stopping short of that bird's rollick- 

 ing triplets, ending almost before it began, as 

 if it had been broken off in the middle, with a 

 sweetly plaintive cadence. Like the White- 

 thr(iat's, and unlike the \\'hite-crown's, tlie tone 

 is a i>ure whistle, so that the strain can be imi- 

 tated, even at first hearing, well enough to 

 excite the birds to its repetition. I proved it on 

 the spot." William L. Fixlev. 



For the determination of the food of the 

 Golden-crowned Sparrow, 184 stomachs were 

 available. The animal food amounted to 0.9 

 per cent., vegetable to 99,1 per cent. The animal 

 food consisted of insects and was prettv well dis- 

 tribtited among the various orders. It was evi- 

 dent that the Golden-crowned does not search 

 for insects and takes only those that come in its 

 way. The vegetable food consists of fruits, 

 buds and flowers, grain, and some miscellaneous 

 matter. Fruit amounted to a little more than I 

 per cent, of the food and consisted of elderber- 

 ries, grapes and what was thought to be apple. 

 Piuds and flowers averaged 29.5 per cent., grain 

 nearly 26 per cent., and weed seed 33 per cent. 

 This bird does no direct harm to fruit, but by 

 the destruction of buds and blossoms it may do 

 serious harm where it is numerous and visits 

 the orchards. 



WHITE-THROATED SPARROW 

 Zonotrichia albicollis (Gnirlin) 



.\. n. V. \umher ;^.<! S.-c Color I'l.Ttf 8_- 



Other Names. — Pcabody Bird; Cherryhird (in parts, rusty-hrown, streaked with black; under parts, 



Adirondacks) ; Canada Bird; White-throated Crown while and gray. Bill, small, compressed-conical ; win.sjs, 



Sparrow; White-throat; Nightingale (in Manitoba"); long and pointed; tail, about length of wing, rounded 



Canada Sparrow : Peverly Bird. or slightly double rounded. 



General Description. — Length, -'4 inches. L'pper Color. — .Xntii.T: Crown, black divided centrally by 



