40 Cameron, Birds of Custer & Dawson Counties, Mont. [jan 



brief combats. On my first coming to Montana, these birds, so numerous 

 and tame about ranch buildings and doors, reminded me of the sparrows 

 on English farmyards. I have found their nests, which are invariably 

 placed under a sage bush, and lined with grass, in pine hills, badlands, 

 and open prairie. On an average the full clutch of five eggs is laid by 

 the middle of June, and the young are fledged in the middle of July. The 

 female incubates about twelve days. I have also seen eggs in July, but 

 these were doubtless for a second brood. In the pairing season, the males 

 give a sort of display, during which they bow, strut and spread their long 

 tails. 



139. Zonotrichia quenila. Harris's Sparrow. — Rare. I observed 

 a single Harris's Sparrow associating with White-crowned Sparrows on 

 May 24 and 25, 1907, near Knowlton, Custer County. 



Captain Thome has the following: "Seen only in the fall of 1889 (Sep- 

 tember 22, to October 13). All I took were juveniles." 



140. Zonotrichia leucophrys. White-crowned Sparrow. — Tolerably 

 common in both comities. A very regular spring migrant. Notes kept 

 for a number of years show that it almost always arrives during the first 

 week in May, and may remain until the end of the month. To my knowl- 

 edge, it has only once arrived in April — on April 21, 1900. These spar- 

 rows used to sit in the brush at my north window (see introduction), and 

 lent by their presence a further charm to the flowering choke-cherries. 

 In my opinion they are the handsomest sparrows which visit Eastern 

 Montana. 



White-crowned Sparrows are not often observed here on the fall migra- 

 tion, but I have a few records of their appearance about the end of Septem- 

 ber. I found them more numerous on October 1, 1893 (the occasion of 

 the first snowstorm), than at any other time. Associated with Juncos, 

 separate flocks were seen, at intervals, for a mile down the creek, on my 

 ranch in Custer County. White-crowned Sparrows are birds of the river 

 bottoms, and merely pass through the pine hills. 



141. Zonotrichia leucophrys intermedia. Intermediate Sparrow. — 

 Captain Thorne states that this sparrow is "tolerably common in spring 

 and fall." I have not noticed it. 



142. Zonotrichia albicolUs. White-throated Sparrow. — Rare mi- 

 grant. I saw a pair on Fallon Creek, Custer County, September 6, 1896. 



143. Spizella monticola ochracea. Western Tree Sparrow. — 

 Abundant on the migrations in both counties. May arrive at any time 

 from the end of February to the end of March. I have not seen this spar- 

 row in December or January, although Captain Thorne gives it as "usually 

 abundant during the colder months." Very erratic, remaining for a few 

 days or for a month. 



On March 26, 1907, near Knowlton, Custer County, a flock of about 

 250 Tree Sparrows arrived early in the morning during a snowstorm. At 

 first, this large flock split up into small companies of from 25 to 50 in each, 

 which came boldly to the windows and doors, covered the roofs of the 



