136 Vol. XXII 
VARIATIONS IN THE SONG OF THE GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW 
By FRANK N. BASSETT 
WITH FOUR FIGURES 
BOUT THREE years ago my attention was called to the song of the Gol- 
A den-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia coronata) as recorded by Keeler 
(Bird Notes Afield, 1899, p. 117), and the remark passed at that time 
expressed some doubt as to the accuracy of this record. I thereupon determ- 
ined to give particular attenticn to the song of this bird with the chance of 
hearing it as written in the work mentioned. I provided myself with a pitch 
pipe tuned to the international orchestral pitch (440A), and with the aid of 
this have set the songs in musical notation in the exact pitch as performed. 
During this time I discovered numerous variations to the song, but had about 
given up hopes of hearing it as written by Keeler when on April 4, 1920, to 
my great surprise I heard it, and moreover in exactly the same pitch as he 
has written it. 
There seems to be one song which is typical of the species, but oceasion- 
ally it is transposed into other keys, and less frequently there are variations in 
it. Following is the song with its variations in the order of their frequence. 
O:/20 . \ 
gl C55 
Fig. 29 
This is far the most frequently heard song, outnumbering all the variations 
together. It begins on F and with a gradual slur amounting to a glissando it 
descends one tone to E flat where there is a slight break and the E flat is 
struck again with a decided accent, passing a minor third lower to C without 
any special marks of expression. This last interval naturally pitches the song 
in C minor, and IJ have frequently heard it one half tone higher (C sharp mi- 
nor), and one half tone lower (B minor). Occasionally it has been sung one 
tone higher (D minor), and rarely one tone lower (B flat minor), making in 
all five different keys in which I have heard this song. 
8va 
=/20 
5 > 
“4 coe 
£1186. 
Fig. 30 
This is the most frequent variation. It is precisely the same as the first 
song except the first note descends only one half tone to E natural and thence 
