The Rufous-crowned Sparrow 



Brown Towhee, and I passed on, musing upon the ways of Lazulis, when 

 a song burst forth at my elbow near the roadside. Suit suit zul eb stutz 

 tuzzuzzu wei, said the voice, and I should have let it pass for the song 

 of the Lazuli if curiosity had not been provoked by its nearness. There 

 in a brush-clump not ten feet away sat a Rufous-crowned Sparrow 

 vigorously delivering himself of the stolen (?) song. Fortunately, the 

 Lazuli returned presently to defend his honors, and I had ample oppor- 

 tunity to make a critical comparison of their songs. The resemblance is, 

 after all, superficial, due rather to the accidental characters before 

 enumerated than to quality. The Sparrow's song is more sprightly, more 

 varied, and of a sharper, more penetrating quality. It is 

 rather less musical, and it lacks altogether that caressing drawl 

 which marks the Finch's effort. A few moments later the 

 Rufous-crown took a station well up in a eucalyptus tree and 

 burst forth with great regularity at intervals of ten seconds, 

 with each "performance" lasting about one and a half seconds. 

 The song is so little stereotyped that it contains hints now of 

 Vesper, now of Lark Sparrow (in the kitty kitty opening 

 notes), now of Willow Goldfinch (for vivacity), but always, 

 most of all, of Lazuli Bunting. 



On Santa Cruz Island, where I found the birds abundant 

 in the spring of 1915, I was deceived repeatedly by the 



chattering, vivacious, and 



^wren-like qualities of the 



Rufous-crown's song. Wee 



chee chit i wit chit i wit chit it, 



the bird said, all at a breath; 



and it may be that there is 



an average shade of difference 



in the insular song, but Lord 



forbid that the species-hunters 



should get after them on that 



account. For fear they might, 



I will say that prickly pears 



are very abundant on Santa Cruz Island, and that 



the birds frequent the thickest patches. They are 



really very ungetatable, if you please. 



If any one supposes that because the Rufous-crown 

 is a fairly plentiful bird in southwestern California, the nests are common 

 likewise, then he is entitled to another guess. The discovery of one of 

 these obscure cradles, sunk flush with the ground on some weed-strewn 

 hillside, is something of an exploit. Or perhaps it is fairer to say that 



Taken in San Diego 

 Photo by Donald R. Dickey 



RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW 



2"JI 



