WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. 69 



more corn than wheat and oats and is ehiefl}' waste kernels; i^er- 

 cent of grass seed, mainly pigeon-grass, crab-grass, June grass, pas- 

 palum, and Johnson grass ; 6 percent of the seeds of amaranth, lamb's- 

 quarters, wild sunflower, and gromwell, and 42 percent of ragweed 

 and polygonum. These figures indicate that it is advisable to aiford 

 this species all possible encouragement and protection. 



WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. 



{Zonotricliia leucophrys, Zonotrichia I. gambeli, and Zonotrichia I. nuttalli.) 



There are three subspecies, or geographic races, of white-crowned 

 sparrows. The first that was described, Zonotrichia leucophrys, is 

 a bird of the Hudsonian life zone, breeding in the verj^ high moun- 

 tains of the western United States and eastward to Labrador and the 

 Hudson Bay region. In winter it is found throughout the United 

 States and as far south as the valley of Mexico. The second subspe- 

 cies, G-ambel's sparrow {Zonotrichia leucophrys gamheli), is not found 

 east of the Great Plains, and breeds to the north of the United States. 

 The third subspecies, N'uttall's sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys nut- 

 talli), is confined to the Pacific coast region, and occurs from British 

 Columbia to Lower California. 



Two hundred and seventeen stomachs of these three subspecies, col- 

 lected during every month of the year except August, have been exam- 

 ined. One-fourth of the food contained in these stomachs was found 

 to consist of animal matter, and three-fourths of vegetable matter. 

 The animal portion resembles that of other sparrows in character, but 

 differs somewhat in the proportions of the various constituents. Cat- 

 erpillars form 9 percent of the total food, or more than one-third of the 

 animal food, which is in excess of the usual proportion of these pests 

 found in sparrow stomachs. Ants and parasitic wasps amount to 6 

 percent of the total food, also an unusually large proportion. The 

 percentage of beetles (5 percent) is, on the contrary, rather below the 

 average; and that of grasshoppers (1 percent) is remarkably small. 

 The remaining 4 percent of the animal food is composed of spiders, 

 bugs, and miscellaneous insects in the usual proportions. 



The vegetable part of the food consists of 51 percent of weed seed, 

 15 percent of grain, 4 percent of grass seed, and 5 percent of fruit. 

 The amount of grass seed consumed is noticeably smaller, while the 

 fruit element is noticeably larger than is common in sparrow food. 

 This fruit-eating proclivit}^ and apparent lack of appetite for grass 

 seed and grasshoppers characterizes the food habits of all the spar- 

 rows of the genus Zonotrichia. 



Owing to marked differences of food habits among these three sub- 

 species of white-crowned sparrows, it is desirable to consider each 

 separately, though the limited material, especially in the case of gam- 

 heli, renders cautious conclusions necessary. 



