456 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE YO SEMITE 



inches deep. Externally there is naturally much variation in dimension ; 

 one nest measured in place was 31^4 inches in diameter and 214 inches high. 



Four is the usual number of eg"gs laid; none of the nests seen by us 

 held more. Several nests held only 3 to 2 eggs or young, but in these cases 

 there is the possibility that some of the clutch or brood had been lost. 



During the nesting season chipping sparrows are as fearless as at 

 other times. The observer can often approach very close to a nest before 

 the sitting bird will leave. AVe have set up our camera, unscreened, wuthin 

 two feet of a nest, and the female remained on the nest during most or all 

 of the manipulations incident to the taking of a picture. 



After the broods are reared, parents and young join in family parties 

 and wander about in their daih^ quest for food. Sometimes several of 

 these groups gather in a loose flock of a score or more. After the late- 

 summer molt, there is no renewal of the song, as with some sparrows ; only 

 the weak call notes are given. In early autumn the "chippies" quietly take 

 their leave, and by the first week in October the observer finds the species 

 no more among the birds recorded in his daily census. 



Brewer Sparrow. Spizella breweri Cassin 



Field characters. — Size, proportions, and coloration close to those of Chipping Sj^ar- 

 row. No reddish brown on crown or distinct light line over eye. (See pi. 8e.) Top 

 of head, like back, brownish gray streaked with black; lower surface plain ashy white. 

 Voice: Song of male more varied and more musical than that of Chipping Sparrow, 

 remindful of some themes in song of tame canary; call note, a weak tseet. 



Occurrence. — Common summer visitant along east side of Sierra Nevada, in vicinity 

 of Mono Lake. Recorded from Silver and Walker lakes eastward. Occurs, also, in 

 spring migration, along west base of Sierra Nevada, as at Lagrange (May 6, 1919) 

 and Smith Creek, east of Coulterville (March 23, 1916). Noted in Yosemite Valley, 

 September 18, 1917 (Mailliard, 1918, p. 17). A few appear at higher altitudes in 

 early fall, as near Merced Lake (August 25 and September 5, 1915). Habitually in 

 sagebrush. In pairs while nesting; in loose flocks at other times. 



The Brewer Sparrow is a common and characteristic summer visitant 

 in the great inland sea of sagebrush which covers the floor of the Great 

 Basin. It is a near relative of the Western Chipping Sparrow, but wears 

 still duller colors, having none of the bright markings on its head which 

 characterize the latter bird. (See pi. 8e.) The general tone of its whole 

 coloration is subdued to a pale tint of gray which closely matches the gray 

 color of the brush in which it lives. 



The time at which the Brewer Sparrow arrives in the Yosemite region 

 has not been ascertained closely. Birds which were undoubtedly migrants 

 were observed at Smith Creek, 6 miles east of Coulterville, on March 23, 

 1916, and near Lagrange, on May 6, 1919. About Mono Lake, in 1916, 



