FINCHES, SPARROWS: WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW 753 
They were seen carrying food from July 23 to August 8. The next year in the 
Wheeler Peak amphitheater of the Taos Mountains a nest containing young was 
found, July 20, at 11,400 feet, near timberline (Bailey). [About 25 miles southeast 
of Taos, at 10,500 feet, several birds were singing June 24, 1919. Others were noted 
in the region. At timberline in the Pecos Mountains numbers were found July 12, 
1919, the males singing, and on July 17 a young one was seen. On June 19 and 20, 
1924, they were common at timberline on Wheeler and other peaks, nesting in the 
thick, gnarled, fox-tail pine (a nest with two eggs was found on the southeast slope 
of Wheeler Peak, June 19, 1924). They were also observed in willow thickets at 
lower levels (Ligon). In nothern Santa Fe County they are common in the spring 
and have been seen as late as July 1, in willow thickets near the Santa Fe River 
(Jensen, 1922).] These are apparently the only breeding records for New Mexico 
and mark the White-crowned Sparrow as one of the highest breeding birds in the 
State. 
After the breeding season, on the east slope of the Taos Mountains, September 17, 
1904, they were still common in the meadows at 11,000 feet (Bailey), but the first 
of the fall migrants appeared, September 18, 1905, near Burley (Hollister); Sep¬ 
tember 19, 1906, near Laguna (Bailey); and September 27, 1915, at Chloride (Ligon). 
These were undoubtedly birds that had nested much farther north, while those 
seen September 8, 1904, at 10,000 feet in the San Juan Mountains near Hopewell 
(Gaut) may have nested in those mountains, and the same is probably true of the 
birds that were abundant August 20, 1904, at and above timberline in the Culebra 
Mountains (Bailey). [They were noted near Gallup, September 30, 1916 (Skinner).] 
By the end of September the species has become common in the lower mountains 
and all through October is abundant, arriving at Cooney, October 9, 1889 (Barrell), 
and being common along Red River, Colfax County, October 16, 1913 (Kalmbach). 
During the winter it descends to the low valleys as at Shiprock (Gilman), and 
Fort Thorn (Henry); it was very abundant, December 7-10, 1915, at the south end 
of the San Mateo Mountains (Ligon), and also remains on the lower mountain 
slopes. 
The spring migration is largely concluded in May, and all the individuals have 
ordinarily left the lower valleys by the last of that month; one was noted at Chloride, 
May 8, 1915 (Ligon), but in 1907, following a phenomenally cold spring, one was 
still present at Doming the first of June; in 1899 several were seen near Roswell at 
the very late date of June 10-11 (Bailey), and in 1913 one was noted, June 7, at 
6,600 feet on the East Gila River (Ligon). [At Lake Burford migrants w'ere seen 
from May 28 to June 6, 1918 (Wetmore).]—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —On or near the ground, in sub-alpine meadows, often in willows along 
streams; made usually of fine twigs, rootlets, grasses, and sometimes horsehairs. 
Eggs: 3 to 5, pale greenish blue, varying to brownish, spotted with reddish brown. 
Food.— “Like most of its family, it is a seed eater by preference, and insects 
comprise very little more than 7 per cent of its diet. Caterpillars arc the largest 
item, with some beetles [alfalfa w'eevils], a few ants and wasps, and some bugs, 
among w r hich are black olive scales. The great bulk of the food, however, consists 
of w r ced seeds, which amount to 74 per cent of the w T hole. The little fruit it eats is 
mostly wild, and the grain eaten is waste or volunteer’' (IIenshaw r ). 
General Habits. —When listening to Western Mockingbirds, 
June 2, 1907, in the mesquite on the edge of Deming, we were astonished 
to hear the song of the White-crown or “ Striped-head,” as the Indians 
