GAMBEL'S SPARROW. 113 



sometimes even late into the evening, long after dark — I have heard it at midnight, and 

 even as late as one or two o'clock. It is very tame; a pair had their nest within a few 

 feet of our camp at Chicago Lake, and all the bustle and noise did not drive the female 

 from her nest, while her mate would pick up crumbs which we threw to him, almost at 

 our feet. It commences building in July, and the young are hatched about the 20th; 

 the nest is placed on the ground in a clump of bushes, composed of coarse grass and 

 weeds, and lined with fine grass. The eggs are usually four, of a pale bluish-green, very 

 thickly speckled and dotted with reddish-brown, the latter color almost wholly obscui'ing 

 the former at the larger end. In September it begins to descend ; by October it is 

 abundant at Idaho, and by November has disappeared. It is by no means as numerous 

 in the. lower valleys during fall as in spring, passing through much more quickly, a 

 peculiarity shared by many species whose migrations are similar, as Sylvania pusilla, 

 Dendroica auduhoni, and others." 



NAMES: White-crowned Sparrow, White-crown, White-crowned Bunting.— Kronfink (Nehrl.), Weisskronfink 

 (Nehrl.) [German]. 



SCIENTIFIC NAMES: \Bni6er/za leacophrys Forster (1772). FringUla leucophrys And. (1834). .ZONO- 

 TRICRIA LEUCOPHRYS Swains. (1831). 



DESCRIPTION: Sexes, alike. Distinct white stripe on top of head, bordered on each side by a black stripe; 

 this again is bordered by a stripe of pure white passing over each eye to the hind neck; below this 

 another narrow stripe of black through and behind the eye to the occiput. Sides of the head, forepart 

 of breast, and lower neck all round, pale ash, lightest beneath, shading to ■white on the belly and 

 chin; sides of belly and under tail-coverts tinged with yellowish-brown. Above, gray, streaked with 

 black and brown. Two white bands on wing. 



Length, 7.00 inches; wing, 3.19; tail, 3.00 inches. 



Gambel's Sparrow, Zonotricbia gambeli Gambel. The habitat of this Sparrow is 

 found in the coast ranges of California, north to British Columbia. This bird, which is 

 also known as the Western "White-crowned Sparrow, w^as met with by Prof. Robert 

 Ridgway at the Summit Meadows, near the summit of Donner Lake Pass of the Sierra 

 Nevada, at an altitude of about 7,000 feet. It was there an abundant and character- 

 istic bird. The males were in full song in all parts of the meadow, and the birds were nest- 

 ing in such numbers that on the evening of July 9, on halting for the night, in a hurried 

 search no less than twenty-seven eggs were found within about fifteen minutes. In every 

 instance the nests were embedded under a species of dwarf willow, with which the ground 

 was covered. The birds were extremely unsuspicious, the male often sitting on a bush 

 within a few feet of the naturalist, chanting merrily. In other localities the nests of 

 Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow were found in trees, bushes, and in thick clumps of 

 weeds. The ground-color of the eggs is pale greenish-blue, spotted and splashed with 

 liver-brown. 



DESCRIPTION : The only appreciable and constant difference between this species and the White-crown is 

 found in the character of the black stripe on the side of the crown. In Z. leucophrys the black passes 

 down over the upper half of the lores, and in front of the eye, to a line continuous with the cutting 

 edge of the bill, and sends back a short branch to the eye, which cuts off the white superciliary stripe. 

 In Z. gambeli the superciliary stripe passes continuously forward to the ashy lores, cutting off the 

 black from the eye. The lower edge of the black anteriorly is much higher than in Z. leucophrys, and 

 nearly on a line with the nostrils. 



15 



