FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC.: SONG SPARROW 
757 
State Records. —Two immature Mountain Song Sparrows, so young that they 
had evidently been hatched not far distant, were taken, August 13, 1904, at 7,600 
feet on Arroyo Hondo (Bailey). The species is evidently not common, for none 
had been seen or heard during the previous month spent in working from the base 
to the summits of the Tao 
Mountains. [They were observed 
at Taos, June 21, 1924 (Ligon). 
A few pairs have been found 
nesting in the willows along the 
river between Santa Fe and the 
Reservoir at the mouth of the 
canyon. On June 19, 1921, 
a nest was found with four fresh 
eggs (Jensen). At Lake Burford 
they were common, May 23-June 
19, 1918, and it was estimated 
that 35 pairs were nesting around 
the lake. After June 4, the 
young were common (Wetmore).] 
In most of New Mexico it is 
known only as a migrant and 
winter resident. In the fall it 
was common, August 23, 1904, 
at 9,700feet on the Costilla River 
(Bailey), and was still more com¬ 
mon, October 7-12, 1908, near 
the summit of the Chuska 
Mountains at 8,500 feet, and 
was fairly common at Blanco in 
brush along the river, November 
15-20, 1908 (Birdseye). In 1913 
it was fairly common at Lake 
Burford on August 2, and in 1905 
had already appeared in the 
Jornada, September 1, and by the end of the month it was seen in full numbers (Ligon). 
Before winter, it passes across the entire State and comes into the valleys of the 
southern part, but remains at least as high as 6,400 feet at Las Vegas, December 18, 
1S82 (Batchelder). [On the Rio Grande Bird Reserve (Elephant Butte), it was 
common, November 23-December 9, 1916. On the Carlsbad Bird Reserve it was 
seen occasionally in January, 1915, noted during the winter of 1915-16, and found 
common, in December, 1916 (Willett).] 
In the spring of 1903, it remained at Mesilla Park until March 20 (Ford), and 
the next year at Cienequilla, 6,000 feet, until March 21 (Surber).—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. In low bushes, vines, or on the ground, usually near water, made chiefly 
of grasses lined with slender stems and sometimes horsehair. Eggs: 4 or 5, dull 
greenish white, spotted with reddish brown, sometimes concealing ground color. 
Food— (Song Sparrows of various subspecies.) Of the total food for the year, 
animal matter constitutes 34 per cent, and vegetable, 66 per cent; but from May to 
August, insects amount to about half of the food, including larval and imago mos- 
quitodike flies and horseflies, ants, larvae of cutworms, army worms, cankerworms, 
From Biological Survey 
Fig. 134. Song Sparrow 
Singing his sweet song of home 
