299 LAND BIRDS 
stalk or on a low bush, ruffling his little throat with a 
continuous flow of music. Or he may be caught dancing 
before his demure brown sweetheart, ecstatically pouring 
out melody. It is difficult to go anywhere in the inte- 
rior valleys of California and not see him. His striped 
head and white-bordered tail and sweet song are the 
characteristics by which you may identify him. 
His nest is usually well hidden, either on the ground 
or in low bushes, and in going to it he skulks through 
the intervening foliage in a secretive fashion hard to 
follow. The young are like those of his kind, naked, 
except for thin down, and blind for the first few days, 
during which they are fed by regurgitation. They are 
well feathered on the tenth day, and at this stage scram- 
ble out of the nest at the approach of danger. Like 
young meadowlarks they spend their babyhood days in 
the concealment afforded by the grass and thickets, and 
not until able to fly do they follow the adults to the 
more conspicuous feeding grounds. 
554. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. — Zonotrichia 
leucophrys. 
Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, ete. 
Length: 6.50-7.50. 
Adults: Upper parts grayish brown, back streaked with brown or black ; 
crown with median white stripe, having lateral deep black stripe ; a 
broad white superciliary stripe, below which is a narrower black 
stripe behind the eye; edge of wing white ; under parts plain gray. 
Young: Similar to adults, but head striped brown and buffy instead of 
black and white; under parts very light brown; breast, sides of 
throat, and sides of belly streaked. 
Geographical Distribution: United States and Canada, north to Lab- 
iii a8 
