78 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW. 
(Zonotrichia coronata.) 
The golden-crowned sparrow arrives in California from the north 
in September, and departs for its summer residence in April. In 
winter it spreads over the country, lives wherever food can be obtained, 
except perhaps in the forest, and may often be seen in the garden 
among the fruit trees or in the rose bushes. It is also found in lonely 
canyons or on the cattle ranges in the hills. In general appearance 
and in food habits it does not differ essentially from the white-crown. 
For the determination of its food 184 stomachs were available, taken 
from October to April, inclusive. The animal food amounts to 0.9 
percent, vegetable to 99.1. 
Animal food.—The animal food consists of insects, and is pretty 
well distributed among the various orders. No great quantity was 
found in any one stomach, and it is eaten so rarely and in such small 
quantities that the wonder is that it is eaten at all. Singularly 
enough two worker honeybees were found in one stomach. It is 
evident that the golden-crown does not search for insects, and takes 
only those that come in its way. 
Vegetable food—The vegetable food consists of fruit, buds and 
flowers, grain, and some miscellaneous matter. Fruit can not be a 
prominent item in the food of this sparrow, owing to the time of year 
it spends in California. One stomach taken in March contained a 
little fruit pulp, probably left over from the previous season. Fruit 
was found also in 2 stomachs taken in October and in 2 taken in 
November. In one it consisted of elderberries; in one, of grape; in 
another, it was thought to be apple; while in the fourth, it was 
unidentifiable. In all, it amounts to a little more than 1 percent 
of the food. Remains of buds and flowers were found in stomachs 
taken in every month of the bird’s stay in the State, except October 
and November, when buds are very small. They were found in 56 
stomachs; the average for the season is 29.5 percent, and in March 
it rises to nearly 78 percent. Where this bird is abundant, it may do 
mischief if it visits the orchards. In the stomach of no other species 
yet examined has been found so much of this kind of food, which 
makes it probable that much of the bud and flower eating imputed 
to the linnet and white-crown is really done by the golden-crown. 
Grain was eaten during every month of the bird’s stay in the State, 
but as none of these was a harvest month, little damage was done. 
March, the sowing month, showed but little more than 5 percent, 
while over 66 percent was eaten in January. The average for the 
season was nearly 26 percent. It was found in 23 stomachs, of 
which 12 contained oats; 6, wheat; 2, barley; 2, corn; and 1, doubtful. 
