289 
Field Marks. Brilliant black and white crown and without white throat or yellow 
loral mark, separates adults from mature White-throats, In juvenility, when the loral 
spot cannot be seen, the latter has a distinctly red, rather than grey, cast on the back. 
Distinguished from the Golden-crowned by the white instead of yellow median line. 
Juveniles are probably difficult to distinguish in life from that species, but the crown shows 
distinctly redaish instead of yellowish or flat olive. 
Nesting. On the ground or in low bushes. Nest of grasses and fine vegetable fibres. 
Distribution. North America from tree limits southward. Throughout Canada as a 
breeder or migrant. 
SUBSPECIES. Three subspecies are recognized in Canada. The Eastern White- 
crown Zonotrichia leucophrys leucovhrys extends westward over the prairies to the Rocky 
mountains. It is notable that, although this form in the east breeds only in high latitudes, 
it is the nesting form of the hills of southwestern Saskatchewan. Gambel’s or the Inter- 
mediate Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys gambeli occupies the northern prairies, and the 
interior of British Columbia, northward into Alaska. It is distinguished from leucophrys 
mainly by the lores being white instead of black (Figure 270, compare a with b). On 
the coast of British Columbia is Nuttall’s Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttdUi. This 
is like Gambel’s, but the grey of the back is slightly olivaceous, the stripes are less reddish 
and a darker and richer brown, and there is a trace of pale yellow on the edge of the first 
wing-joint. Gambel’s Sparrow occurs in migration throughout the southern prairies, the 
mountains, and along tne coast. The eastern form has occurred at least once in the 
interior of British Columbia. 
One of the most beautiful of the Sparrows. Though it lacks gaudy 
colours, its sharply contrasting black and white crown and grey throat 
and neck give it distinction. Its song too, is sweet, but it is usually heard 
at its best only on its breeding grounds. 
Ordinarily it is a great weed-seed destroyer, but when it occurs in 
immense flocks, as in some parts of British Columbia, some complaints have 
been made that it eats off the shoots of sprouting garden seeds or even 
scratches up the seeds themselves. This objection, however, is more or 
less local. 
557. Golden-crowned Sparrow. Zonotrichia coronata. L, 7. Slightly larger 
than the White-crowned Sparrow; like it in coloration, but the white median crown-patch 
is replaced by bright lemon-yellow, and the general coloration is duller, more ochraceous; 
the clear grey of neck and breast is more brownish ash and it has not the black line 
back from the eye (Figure 271). The juvenile is similar to the 
juvenile White-crowned, but the crown-spot is not as clear reddish 
and is usually tinged with yellow in the centre. 
Distinction. The yellow crown in adult and traces of it in 
juvenility, otherwise a slightly larger and duller-coloured bird than 
the White-crowned. 
Field Marks. Like a White-crowned Sparrow, with no distinct 
white superciliary line and with golden instead of white crown streak. 
It may sometimes be impossible to separate juveniles from that 
species. 
Nesting. On the ground; nest of fine grasses and rootlets. 
Distribution. Pacific coast region of North America. In Canada, British Columbia 
and western mountain regions, northward into Alaska and the adjoining foothills in Alberta. 
Nesting in the mountains south to Jasper Park region and Cariboo district of British Colum- 
bia. A regally crowned Sparrow typical of the alpine meadows of the mountains. 
Figure 271 
Golden-crowned Spar- 
row; scale, |. 
558. White-throated Sparrow, canada-bird. Canada white-throat, feabody- 
bird. Zonotrichia albicollis. L, 6-75. Plate LYI B. Adult; back striped in reddish and 
dark browns; white below. Face and foreneck light ash-grey with well-defined white 
throat. Crown, black with conspicuous white median stripe. Superciliary stripe bright 
yellow in front of eve, changing to white behind. Juvenile has back striped with rufous 
and brown; dull ashy white below, duskier on breast but whiter on throat. Yellow spot 
in front of, and over, eye always perceptible. 
Distinction. The yellow spot in front of, and over, eye, and distinctly lighter throat 
are the best distinctive characters. 
91054 — 19 
