io8 
THE CONDOR 
1 Vol. IV 
Nests of Californian Birds’ he describes 
a nest found by Chas. A. Allen on July 
lo, 1875. It “contained three pure 
white eggs which measure .89 of an 
inch in length by .65 in breadth. 
. and the nest was placed on the 
ground under a bush.” The locality is 
described as an open heathy tract on a 
mountain side. 
Subsequent* to this Mr. Brewster pub- 
lished further observations on this spec- 
ies by Mr. AHen, dealing with the time 
of arrival, the song and general wari- 
ness of the bird. He states also that 
GENERAL OB.SERVATIONS. 
My visits to the home of the rufous- 
crowned sparrow this year began on 
March 23 according to my note book. 
The day was bitterly cold with a north 
wind, and not conducive to bird investi- 
gations. At the colony I was greeted 
by a male on the stone wall and I 
approached to within fifteen feet. 
Then its mate came into view and both 
hopped about in the grass near the 
sage-brush, allowing me to come within 
ten feet of them. On going up the 
hill I saw two more pair but decided 
PHOTO BY BARLO-V. 
Haunts of the rufous-crowned sparrow. 
the birds depart for the south before 
winter sets in. In the Osprey (H, p. 27 
1897) L- P- Williams describes briefly 
the nesting of this species in San Ber- 
nardino Co., Cal., stating that the nests 
are built under grass tufts, and that 
four or five eggs are laid, which are 
“crystalline white” when blown. So 
far as I can learn this comprises all that 
has been published on the nesting and 
habits of the rufous-crowned sparrow. 
they were not yet nesting. The pres- 
ence of numerous Zonotrichia in the 
sage made a search for a nest imprac- 
ticable. I had an excellent chance to 
hear and verify one of the songs of 
Aimophila. It was given frequently, — 
a weak song, well expressed by te-a-te- 
tree-e-e, the last note being as long as 
the three preceding ones. This par- 
ticular song was not heard so often 
later in the season. 
On March 30 a visit to the hillside 
failed to reveal a single bird, the}" hav- 
N. O. Chib. lY, p. 47, 1879. 
