WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 941 
tions he wears dark brown, while on the sands of the 
extreme south border he is almost clay-color. But the 
habits and song remain unchanged. Thoreau declares 
the Massachusetts maidens hear him say, “ Maids, maids, 
maids, hang on your tea-kettle, tea-kettle, ettle-ettle,” 
and this is exactly the advice he 
gives to campers in the sierras 
when the first rays of the sun 
strike the tops of the 
pine trees. Day has be- 
gun for bird and _ bird- 
lover. Then if you rise 
quickly and steal down 
to the edge of a moun- 
tain brook you may catch 
him at his bath. What- 
ever the locality or the 
subspecies, do not ex- 
pect to see him at any 
great distance from 
water, for he is an in- 
veterate splasher. I 
have seen him dip into 58la. Desert Sone Sparrow. 
a puddle whose edges fi ‘In rain or shine, he is the same jolly 
ellow.”’ 
were crusted with ice 
and apparently enjoy it as well as a bath in the heat 
of a July day. 
When alarmed, his first impulse is to dart downward 
into the friendly shelter of bushes, pumping his expres- 
sive tail vigorously as he flies. But in rising from the 
~ 16 
