128 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 30 



plant fiber, the lining of fine grass. It contained four slightly incu- 

 bated eggs. This nest, like the others, was found by flushing the bird. 

 The last two nests discovered, both taken by Brooks, are now in the 

 collection of Colonel John E. Thayer, Lancaster, Massachusetts. 



The dates on which these nests were taken is probably indicative 

 of the usual time of egg-laying, but some sets are evidently laid at a 

 much later date. On August 3, on Spruce Mountain, a pair of birds 

 was seen, which, from their actions, obviously had a nest nearby, and 

 on August 5, on the same mountain, a nest was found containing naked 

 young, probably about a week old. 



The Thayer collection contains four sets of eggs of the golden- 

 crowned sparrow, collected by John Koren, with data as follows : 



(1) Anvil Mountains, near Nome, Alaska; June 21, 1910; 5 eggs. 



(2) Anvil Mountains, near Nome, Alaska; June 21, 1910; 7 eggs 



(3 broken). 



(3) Nelson Island, Bering Sea, Alaska; July 3, 1910; 3 eggs. 



(4) Sliumagin Island, Alaska; July 8, 1911; 5 eggs. 



The parent birds of each set are also in the Thayer collection. 



On July 8 young out of the nest were first seen on Monarch 

 Mountain, and here, as in previous experiences, I had impressed upon 

 me the extreme wariness of the young birds. They were in thickets of 

 dwarf birch and balsam. When a brood was flushed they scattered to 

 distant points, and each bird, alighting in a bush, at once scuttled 

 through and was away to another hiding place. The adults are not 

 hard to approach; they apparently watch and direct the retreat of 

 their offspring. 



On July 18 young were taken in juvenal plumage throughout and 

 with full-grown rectrices. Others molting into first winter plumage 

 were collected July 27 and August 5. One young bird still mostly in 

 juvenal plumage was taken August 24. 



The young of the golden-crowned sparrow is generally similar to 

 the same stage in the three species of white-crowned sparrows. 

 Coronata lacks the decided head markings that are seen in the juvenal 

 white-crowns and it has a suggestion of yellowish upon the forehead. 

 Compared with the grayish leucophrys, young coronata is generally 

 darker colored and the ventral streaks are darker, heavier, and more 

 extensive. Compared with gambelii, young coronata is generally 

 browner. Young coronata and young nMttalli are closely similar in 



