734 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
Near Mesilla Park, Professor Merrill found, the amiable little 
Desert Sparrow was often imposed upon by the Dwarf Cowbird. “In 
that region it has a wide range but is found most abundantly on the 
mesa where it nests in Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa), mimbres 
(Chilopsis linearis)j mesquite, creosote, and condalia. A nest found 
May 20, 1913, in an Apache plume, already had the full quota of eggs 
and the female was brooding. The young were out before July first.” 
In fall and winter, he concludes, the Sparrows come down from the 
mesa in large numbers and are very abundant and cheery winter 
birds (MS). 
In summer the handsome Desert Sparrow sings gaily from the top 
of a bush with his head thrown back so that his black throat patch 
shows to advantage. His bright tinkling song has a variety of modifi¬ 
cations. One is given by Doctor Taylor as ‘ 1 queetl queeV toodle-oodle- 
oodle-oodle!” (1912, p. 397), the queets being given with rising inflection. 
Another, heard frequently on the Pecos, given with a burr like that of 
the Lark Sparrow was “ tra-ree-rah, ree-rah-ree .” But whatever form 
Amphispiza’s song takes, his presence is one of the choice pleasures 
offered by the desert. 
SAGE SPARROW: Amphispiza nevadensis nevadensis (Ridgway) 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 5.5-G.2 inches, wing 3-3.2, tail 2.8-3, 
bill .4. Female: Length (skins) 5.4-6.2 inches, wing 2.8-3.1, tail 2.6-3, bill .4. 
Adults: Upperparts light grayish brown , back usually distinctly streaked with dusky; 
tail and wings dull blackish, tail with outer web of outside feather white; edge of wing 
yellow; sides of throat with a broken series of streaks , orbital 
ring, malar streak and most of underparts white, chest with 
black spot, sides and flanks faintly tinged with brown, bill 
grayish blue below. Young: Similar to adults but largely 
streaked with dusky. 
Range. —Breeds on sagebrush plains of Upper Sonoran 
Zone from central Washington, central Idaho, and Mon¬ 
tana, south to southern and western Colorado, north¬ 
western New Mexico, southern Nevada, and eastern Cali¬ 
fornia; winters from Oregon, southeastern California, 
southern Nevada, and Utah to southwestern Texas, New 
Fig. 126. Sage Mexico, Arizona, and Chihuahua. 
Spairow State Records. —The Sage Sparrow breeds mainly 
north of New Mexico. [It is common in summer in the 
northwestern part of the State in sagebrush, and comes south to Gallina at the 
head of the Gallinas River, w r here it breeds (Ligon, 1916-1918). At Lake Burford 
a female was taken May 30, 1918, and others were seen on June 4 and 6, 1918. 
They were locally distributed in the sage growm areas (Wetmore).J 
Migrants come into the State in the fall and remain through the winter. They 
were noted, September 21-22, 1908, at Ojo Caliente, in the sagebrush north of Zuni 
(Birdseye); and October 1, 1904, at Lake Burford (Bailey). [Four were noted, 
October 1,1916, at White Water Creek (Skinner).] A specimen w r as taken, October 
22,1912, at Silver City (Kellogg). The species has been noted south to Fort Thorn 
