The Nuttall Sparrow 



of the migrations the dullest stretch of sage-brush swarms with Crown 

 Sparrows; and the local population of Brewer Sparrows, Desert Sparrows, 

 and the like, must dread this annual inundation of hungry pilgrims. 



No. 60a Nuttall's Sparrow 



A. O. U. No. 554b. Zonotrichia gambeli nuttalli Ridgway. 



Synonyms. — Formerly called Gambel's Sparrow. White-crowned Sparrow 

 (name properly confined to Z. leucophrys). Crown Sparrow. 



Description. — Adults: Like preceding, but general tone of coloration some- 

 what darker; streaks of back and scapulars deepest brown or blackish; general ground- 

 color of upperparts light olive-gray; median crown-stripe narrower; white of central 

 underparts less pure; axillars and bend of wing more strongly yellow. Bill yellowish 

 with dark tip. Immatures: Correspondingly darker than those of 7.. leucophrys; the 

 upperparts toned with light olive-buff; the underparts somewhat tinged with yellowish. 

 Young birds: Similar to those of Z. leucophrys, but much darker, — brownish above, 

 buffy below. Length of adult males, 150-170 (5.90-6.70) ; wing 75 (2.95) ; tail 72 (2.83); 

 bill 11 (.43); tarsus 23.5 (.93). Females smaller. 



Recognition Marks. — Sparrow size; black-and-white striping of crown dis- 

 tinctive in range; darker than preceding; lores not black. 



Nesting. — Nest: A well wrought, deeply-cupped mass of weed-stems, grasses, 

 dead ferns, moss, or any vegetable waste, carefully lined with fine grasses or horse- 

 hair; placed on ground well concealed, or low in bushes. Measures outside 5-7 inches 

 (mm 127-178) over all, by 3^ or 4 (mm 88.9 or 101.6) in depth; inside 2^ to 3 inches 

 (mm 57.2 to 76) across, by 1^ to 2 (mm 38 to 50.8) in depth. Eggs: 3 or 4; much 

 as in Z. leucophrys, but ground-color brighter, and markings both ruddier (cameo- 

 brown to chocolate) and heavier, with more frequent appearance of mottling. Av. 

 of 70 specimens from Humboldt County (M. C. O. Coll.) 20.7 x 16 (.815 x .62); ex- 

 treme 18.5-22.4 by 14. 7-16. 5 (.73-. 88 by .58-. 65). Season: April-July; one or two 

 broods. 



Range of Z. g. nuttalli. — Breeds in the Pacific Coast district from Port Simpson, 

 British Columbia, to Santa Barbara, California; winters occasionally on Puget Sound, 

 but chiefly from central Oregon south to Santa Margarita Island, Lower California. 



Distribution in California. — Chiefly resident along the Pacific Coast, narrowly 

 but regularly south of the Golden Gate, presumably to Point Conception, with an 

 isolated station at Santa Barbara (Bowles), more broadly throughout the humid 

 Transition area north of San Francisco Bay. The western portion of the State is 

 inundated by winter visitors, but these are either confounded with local birds or lost 

 to notice (in the interior and the San Diegan district) in the crowd of Gambel Spar- 

 rows (Z. g. gam beli) — proportions in winter as compared with Gambel's quite vari- 

 able. 



Authorities. — Nuttall (Fringilla leucophrys), Manual Orn., ed. 2, vol. i., 1840, 

 P- 553 (part); Palmer, T. S., Auk, vol. ix., 1892, p. 310 (range); Ridgway, Auk, vol. xvi., 

 1899, pp. 36-37 (renaming of nuttalli); Judd, Biol. Surv. Bull., no. 15, 1901, pp. 70-72 

 {looA);Bolander, Condor, vol. viii., 1906, pp. 73-74; Beal, Biol. Surv. Bull., no. 34, 1910, 

 PP- 75-/7 (part) (food); Hnbbs, Auk, vol. xxxv., 1918, pp. 321-326 (range in Calif.). 



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