468 ANIMAL LIFE IN TEE YOSEMITE 



The plumage, as is generally the case with juvenile birds, is laxer, the 

 crown is not so bright and the breast is narrowly streaked with blackish. 

 These differences, accompaniments of immaturity, disappear at the first 

 fall molt. 



Our attention was attracted to the young bird just mentioned by our 

 hearing a pair of adults uttering their nasal notes in a rapid scolding series, 

 unlike the usual slow enunciation. Meanwhile the birds kept hopping 

 about in a concerned manner in the low brush on a ravine side. A Bell 

 Sparrow and a Lazuli Bunting were calling close by, but the notes of these 

 birds did not indicate so great a degree of solicitude as was evinced 

 by the voices and behavior of the adult Rufous-crowns. While we were 

 cautiously approaching the focus of the commotion, a California Gray 

 Fox suddenly broke from cover in the bottom of the little canon. The 

 parent Rufous-crowns were quite justified in finding his presence a cause 

 of concern; there were evidently other juveniles of that species in the 

 brush beside the one we found. 



A Rufous-crowned Sparrow was seen in some thick brush on the side 

 of a small caiion near El Portal on the morning of November 25, 1914. 

 Its brownish coloration, light stripe over eye, light throat, and quick move- 

 ments reminded the observer of the San Joaquin Bewick Wren. While 

 moving close about the observer and on the alert, this sparrow was seen 

 to fluff out and then press down its feathers; and the rufous feathers of 

 the crown of the head were held continually in a slightly elevated position. 

 The faint call note was given several times while the bird was in view, and 

 from time to time other birds of the same species were heard calling in 

 the vicinity. 



Song Sparrows. Melospiza melodia (Wilson)-'' 



Field characters. — Somewhat larger than Junco. Body streaked both above and 

 below; ground color above dark, below white; a distinct dark spot on breast; no white 

 marks on wing or tail; a light stripe over each eye and another over mid crown. Tail 

 short -appearing, not longer than body, habitually carried up at decided angle with back. 

 A quick-moving sparrow, almost as active as a wren. Voice: Song of male set as to 

 theme, much varied as to rendering; begun with two or three separate clear notes, 

 followed by a buzz and ended with a trill; both sexes utter various call notes. 



29 Four subspecies of the Song Sparrow were found in the Yosemite region. The 

 case with these birds is different from that with the Fox Sparrows, as one subspecies 

 of song sparrow is much more numerously represented than the others, both winter and 

 summer, and there are very few if any Song Sparrows present in the western portion 

 of the region during the summer months. Furthermore, in summer, the Song Sparrow 

 occurs altogether below the range of the Fox Sparrow. The subspecies represented are 

 as follows: 



Modoc Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia fisherella Oberholser, a gray-toned form 

 with light brown streaking, is a summer visitant to the Great Basin region east of the 

 mountains where it was found by us at Mono Lake Post Office, near Williams Butte, and 

 at Silver and Walker lakes. Single individuals (strays?) noted at Gem Lake, 9036 feet. 



