FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC.: WORTHEN SPARROW 749 
General Habits. —The small, striped Brewer Sparrow is so char¬ 
acteristically a bird of the sagebrush as to merit the name of Sagebrush 
Chippy. But it has recently been recorded as coming into the vineyards 
of southern California, and w T here alfalfa has been introduced in its 
region, like others of its relatives, it has learned that it can find an 
abundant supply of insects in the alfalfa fields. Its range is practically 
coincident with that of the sagebrush, which it follows to its upper 
limit. In Nevada, Doctor Taylor found it ranging from 4,100-9,000 
feet (1912, p. 393). In the "extensive sage grown areas” at Lake Bur- 
ford, in 1918, Doctor Wetmore found it one of the commonest breeding 
birds. 
In northern Nevada, Doctor Taylor found it by far the most abund¬ 
ant bird of the region, and the thicker the sage the more in evidence it 
was. During the latter part of May and the first of June, it was “a most 
enthusiastic songster” and was heard before three o’clock in the morn¬ 
ing and after eight o’clock at night. It was often seen “flying irregu¬ 
larly into the air to a height of fifteen feet or more and then shooting 
straight down and coming to rest in a sagebush” (1912, p. 394). When 
flushed it would make a zigzag flight toward a fairly distant bush, 
sinking to the ground behind it but starting up and repeating the per¬ 
formance when nearly overtaken. About the middle of July the appear¬ 
ance of the scores of young ones became noticeable. “Several flocks 
were observed in willows along a creek, twittering together in a most 
amicable fashion.” 
Additional Literature.—Tyler, J. G., Condor, XII, 193-195, 1910 (vineyard 
nests). 
WORTHEN PARROW: Spizella wdrtheni Ridgway 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 5 inches, wing 2.6-2.S, tail 2.3-2.5, bill .4. 
Female: Length (skins) 5-5.2 inches, wing 2.5-2.7, tail 2.3-2.5, bill .3-4. Bill 
slender. Adults: Crown dull cinnamon-brownish, usually 
narrowly and indistinctly streaked , rest of head including 
forehead ashy, eye ring white , sides of head gray, back and 
scapulars pale brown, broadly streaked with black; under¬ 
parts whitish, shaded with bully grayish on sides; bill pink¬ 
ish brown or cinnamon rufous. Young: Duller, crown dull 
brown, chest and sides streaked. 
Comparisons. — The Worthen Sparrow suggests the 
Western Chipping Sparrow but lacks the black eye-streak 
and has a conspicuous white eye-ring. (See p. 745.) 
Range. —Breeds in Upper Sonoran Zone from Silver 
City, New Mexico, to Tamaulipas, Mexico; winters south 
to southern Puebla. 
State Records. The type specimen of the Worthen Sparrow was taken, June 
16, 1884, by Charles H. Marsh at Silver City, and shortly afterward was described 
by Ridgway (1884, p. 259). No further specimens have been reported from the 
State, though the validity of the species has been established by specimens taken in 
From Handbook (Fuertes) 
Fig. 130. Worthen 
Sparrow 
