The Desert Sparrow 



Desert Sparrows nest 

 twice in the season, once 

 in March or April, and 

 again in May or June. 

 Their eggs are purest 

 white; and the nests are 

 placed a foot or so above 

 ground in sage bushes 

 or, upon the southern 

 deserts, in yuccas, or 

 chollas, or young mes- 

 quites. When surprised 

 upon the nest, the 

 female will drop to the 

 ground and scamper off 

 with tail uplifted, — con- 

 spicuous, and intention- 

 ally so. If the decoy 

 ruse will not work, the 

 male tries singing. If 

 that too fails, there is 

 really nothing more to 

 do but to keep out of 

 harm's way and let hap- 

 pen what will. On the 

 eastern slope of the 

 Sierras there are great 

 stretches of sage which 

 harbor scarcely any 

 other birds save Desert 

 Sparrows. Here in late 

 June one may see dozens 

 of them in a brief walk, mostly family groups, — anxious, flitting mothers 

 who cannot sit still on a sage bush for two consecutive seconds for worri- 

 ment, and pudgy little brats with short tails, who fly up valiantly, and 

 who cannot for the brief lives of them see what mama has to worry about. 

 In winter the Desert Sparrows retire from their more elevated or 

 northern ranges, and roam the southern deserts in company with their 

 kinsmen, the Sage Sparrows. The companies are not large, not over 

 two or three score usually, but whether at Palm Springs, at Tucson, or in 

 western Texas, it is an unfailing pleasure to attach yourself to one of them 

 as member at large, and watch the shifting play of the endless quest. 



276 



Taken in San Bernardino County Photo by Donald R. Dickey 



NEST AND EGGS OF DESERT SPARROW IN CHOLLA CACTUS 



