480 ORNITUOLOGY. 



Spizella BREWERI. 



Brewer's Sparrow. 



SpiseUa hreu-eri, Cassin, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., VIII, 1856, 40.— Baird, B. N. 



Am., 1858, 475 ; Gat. N. Am. B., 1859, No. 301.— Cooper, Orn. Cal., I, 1870, 



209. 

 Siyhella pallida var. breweri, CouES, Key, 1872, 143; Check List, 1873, No. 180a; 



B. N.W., 1874, 151.— B. B. & R., Hist. N. Am. B., II, 1874, 13, pi. xxvn, fig. 



4.— Henshaw, 1875, 279. 



A counterpart of the eastern Field Sparrow (-S'. piisiUa), in its predilec- 

 tion for iields, or any open bushy localities, this species was found in every 

 place adapted to its habits. It was first observed at Sacramento, where it 

 was quite common, inhabiting the bushy fields along with Chondestes gram- 

 maca, C'oturnicidus 2^erpaUidus, and Sturnella neglecta. In the sage-brush 

 country, eastward of the Sierra Nevada, it was still more numerous than 

 in the Sacramento Valley ; and throughout the entii-e extent of the Great 

 Basin was everywhere one of the commonest birds of the open wastes, and 

 an almost constant associate of Orcoscoptes montanits and the two species 

 of Ampliispiza. 



The resemblance of this species to 8. pusilla extends no further than to 

 a similarity of general habits, however, for its nest and eggs are extremely 

 different, being more like those of 8. socialis, while its song is remarkable 

 for vivacity and variety, in this respect fully equaling that of the best 

 Canaries, though it is considerably inferior to the latter in power. It is 

 interspersed throughout with a variety of trills or water-notes, and plaintive 

 chants which resemble somewhat the well-known notes of the Field Sparrow. 



List of specimens. 



105, ? ad.; valley of the Truckee, Nevada, July 24, 1867. ^—^^—'-i^^—'-i—je— 

 g — 2i — U. Bill, pale lilaceous-brown, darker along the culmen ; iris, hazel; tarsi 

 and toes, pale brownish flesh-color. 



785, nest and eggs (3); Truckee Reservation, June 3, 1808. Nest in sage-bush, 

 about three feet from ground. 



810, nest and eggs (2) ; "Ohl River" (near sink of Carson), Nevada, June 27, 1808. 

 Nest in sage-bush, about four feet from ground. 



834, nest and eggs (3); Austin, Nevada, .July 4, 1808. Sage-bush. 



874, ad.; Ruby Valley, Nevada, August 28, 180S. ,5/^— 8— (?)— 2|. Upper man- 

 dible, black, approaching to ashy-lilac on the totnium; lower mandible, lilaceous ashy; 

 iris, ashy-umber; tarsi and toes, grayisii horn-color. 



