Brewster on the Rvfous-Crowned Sparrow. 47 



NOTES ON THE HABITS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE 

 RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW (PEUC^A RUFICEPS). 



BY WILLIAM BREWSTER. 



For the following notes, which are of intei-est as tending to 

 throw some light upon the distribution and habits of a bird pre- 

 viously but little known, I am indebted to Mr. Charles A. Allen of 

 Nicasio, Cal., a collector whose energetic as well as carefully con- 

 ducted labors in Californian field ornithology have pi*oduced results 

 too well known to need mention here. 



Although the Rufous-crowned Sparrow was found abundantly 

 near the Calaveras River by Heermann, and in small numbers upon 

 Catalina Island by Dr. Cooper, it was not detected by Mr. Hen- 

 shaw in any of that portion of Califoniia explored by the Wheeler 

 Expedition in 1876. It is probably somewhat local in its distribu- 

 tion, and the peculiar character of its chosen haunts renders it the 

 more likely to be overlooked. Mr. Allen wi-ites me that the Ru- 

 fous-crowned Finch arrives in Marin County, Cal., about the 

 20th of March. They come singly or in pairs, and are found in 

 considerable numbers every season on all the mountains about 

 Nicasio. Black Mountain, however, seems to be their stronghold. 

 It is destitute of forests, and the exceedingly steep, rocky sides are 

 abundantly clothed with " wild oats" and a bush very like the sweet- 

 scented southern-wood. Another shrub, called by the hunters the 

 "spit bush," is also characteristic of the locality, which is otherwise 

 dry, and barren to a degree. The males sing from the tops of these 

 low bushes : their notes are very sweet, and bear considerable re- 

 semblance to those of the Lazuli Finch {Ci/anospiza amcena), but 

 the difference can readily be distinguished. Both sexes are very 

 shy, and to secure any considerable number of specimens is a task 

 of extreme difficulty. If approached from above, they drop to the 

 ground, run like mice through the grass and bushes, and are next 

 seen flying down the mountain-side a hundred yards or more away. 

 The best plan is to work upward. They are then more easily seen 

 against the sky, and are less apt to take wing, as they always prefer 

 to fly down hill. They apparently breed early in April, as a female, 

 shot by Mr. Allen on April 7, 1878, had two fully developed eggs 

 in the ovaries and a third, which would have been laid in a few 



