THE GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW.  ~—=«i133 
General Range.—Pacific Coast and Bering Sea districts of Alaska; south 
in winter thru the Pacific States to Lower California; occasionally straggles 
eastward. 
Range in Washington.—Spring and fall migrant both sides of the Cascades, 
more common westerly. 
Migrations.—S pring: c. April 21 (West-side) ; c. May 20 (Chelan). 
Authorities? Emberiza atricapilla Aud. Orn. Biog. V. 1839, 47; pl. 394. 
Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. Vol. IX. 1858, 462. C&S. L2. D'. Kb. Ra. Kk. B. E. 
Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. E. 
REGAL tho he be, this sparrow is discreet in the matter of appearances, 
and does not cultivate the public eye. Washington is only a way-station 
in his travels, and the splendors and liberties of court life are reserved for 
Alaska. Appearing at Tacoma during the last week in April, demure 
companies of Golden-crowns may not infrequently be seen associated with 
migrating Nuttalls. They are in no hurry, or perhaps the haste of midnight 
flight is over when we see them yawning sleepily in the bushes of a morning. 
They are languid too as they deploy upon the park lawns, always within 
reach of cover, in search of fallen seeds or lurking beetles. Their leisurely 
movements contrast strongly with the bustling activities of the local Nuttalls ; 
for the latter are burdened with the care of children, before the Alaskan 
migrants have forsworn bachelorhood. East of the Cascade Mountains the 
northward movement of this species is even more tardy, and May 18-22 are 
the dates at which I have recorded it at Chelan. 
Migrating Zonotrichias are all coquettishly retiring, and the first hint 
of danger sends them scuttling into the bushes. If one presses up to the 
edge of the brush, he may hear an uncanny rustling among the leaves and 
branches as the birds retreat, but not a single note is uttered. Left to them- 
selves, the birds become sociable with many sinks common to the genus; and, 
if unusually merry, the Golden-crowns indulge a sweet, preparatory hoo hee 
which reminds one of both the White-crowned (Z. leucophrys) and White- 
throated (Z. albicollis) Sparrows of the East; but the song has never been 
completed here to our knowledge. 
Suckley said that Golden-crowned Sparrows were abundant in summer 
both at Fort Dalles and Fort Steilacoom, but this was undoubtedly a mistake, 
as the records of alleged nesting in California proved to be. On the other 
hand they may winter with us to some extent, since Mr. Bowles took a 
specimen on December 16, 1907, in the Puyallup Valley. 
