The Desert Sparrow 



Recognition Marks. — Warbler size; grayish coloration; strong white super- 

 ciliary; black throat with white trimmings distinctive. 



Nesting. — Nest: Placed one or two feet up in sage-brush or other desert plant, 

 rarely on ground; a sturdy cup of interwoven grasses and plant fibers, lined with 

 horsehair or other fine material. Eggs: 3 to 5; bluish white, unmarked; av. size 17.2 

 x 13-3 (-°7 x -5 2 )- Season: May or June; two broods. 



Range of Amphispiza bilineata. — Arid plains of western United States west 

 to Sierra Nevada Mountains, north regularly to northern Nevada, casually to Oregon 

 (Jewett), and eastern Washington (Douglas County, May 31 to June 6, 1908), east to 

 western Texas, and south to northern Mexico, and the whole of Lower California. 



Range of A. b. deserticola. — As above, save as delimited by A. b. bilineata, 

 which occupies the extreme eastern portion of specific range in Texas and northern 

 Mexico. 



Distribution in California. — Summer resident in southeastern California, 

 especially the fringes of the deserts, north, locally, to White Mountains, Mono Lake, 

 Susanville (June 4, 1912), and the lower slopes of the Warner Mountains; west casually 

 in southern portion during migration; one occurrence (possibly a breeding station) 

 in central northern Kern County west of the divide (Sheldon). 



Authorities. — Cooper (Poospiza bilineata), Orn. Calif., 1870, p. 203 (Mohave 

 R. and Providence Mts.); Fisher, N. Am. Fauna, no. 7, 1893, p. 95 (many Calif, 

 localities; dates of nesting, etc.); Sheldon, Condor, vol. xi., 1909, p. 172 (Poso Mts., 

 Kern Co.); Willett, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 7, 1912, p. 82 (occur, in so. Calif.); Grinnell 

 and Swarth, Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool., vol. x., 1913, p. 277 (San Jacinto Mts.; nest and 

 eggs, etc.). 



THE SAGE-BRUSH desert is a thing of uttermost simplicity, 

 Viewed broadly there is nothing but soil and sage and sunshine. Shelter 

 there is none, at least for humans. Vegetation is in one kind. One 

 pervasive scent, that of artemisia, haunts the atmosphere. The sky 

 itself is a simple void, for clouds have no proper place here; only the 

 simple wind and sun (at first futile, then benign, then ardent, and then, 

 alas! how pitiless!). Silence, the dearest simplicity of all, broods over 

 the desert, yet before its comfort stales, the occasional offerings of some 

 of the desert's mild children stand forth in naked, beautiful simplicity. 

 Modest voices which would be smothered elsewhere, as in the chaos of a 

 riverside chorus, here speak to eager ears, and bring nourishment to a 

 heart already rested. 



It was thus I heard in the cool gray of a sage-scented morning my 

 first Desert Sparrow. I had been checking off the scattered numbers 

 of the desert choir, Brewer Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Sage Thrasher, and 

 the rest, when suddenly this fresh voice of inquiry, Bleu chee tee tee, 

 burst from within a stone's throw. The binoculars were instantly 

 levelled and their use alternated rapidly with that of note-book and 

 pencil as the leading features of the stranger's dress were seized upon in 

 order of saliency: Black chin and throat with rounded extension on 



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