The Fox Sparrows 



STRENGTHENING 



of the mandibles is one 

 of the most familiar lines 

 of development in spar- 

 rows, the world over. 

 Just why it should so 

 conspicuously affect the 

 Californian races of the 

 wide-spread Fox Spar- 

 row group, we are not 

 quite prepared to say; 

 but it is probably be- 

 cause of the larger pro- 

 portion which nuts and 

 the sturdier seeds bear 

 in their bill of fare. De- 

 velopment in this regard 

 is fairly rapid, too, so 

 that we may not learn 

 from this character alone 

 whether the megarhyn- 

 cha and stephensi types 

 are derived from a 

 northern stock, or 

 whether they simply 

 went on growing after 

 their fellows emigrated 

 to cooler northern 

 climes. Be that as it 

 may, it is certain that 

 southern California has 

 given its sparrow children 

 harder nuts to crack and 

 tougher twigs to weave 



into nests — and has presented them, as a consequence, with bigger bills. 

 For P. i. stephensi, of the southern mountains, is preeminent in this regard, 

 having a bill fifty per cent thicker than that of P. i. fulva, upon our north- 

 ern border. There are those who are inconsiderate enough to hint that 

 certain other institutions in southern California are characterized by big 

 bills. Perhaps the proprietors of these establishments would do well to 

 place caged examples of Stephens's Fox Sparrow in their lobbies by way of 

 justification, and answer to grumbling guests, "Que voulez vous? C'est 

 le climat. Voila tout." <-, 



Taken in San Bernardino Mountain 



Photo by Wright M. 



NEST AND EGGS OF STEPHENS FOX SPARROW ON GROUND 

 UNDER BUCK-THORN 



