The song of this Sparrow varies in different individuals, and often changes, in the same bird, in different parts of the year. It is even stated by an observing naturalist—Mr. Charles S. Paine, of Randolph, Vt.—that he has known the same bird to sing, in succession, nine entirely different sets of notes, usually uttering them one after the other, in the same order. This was noticed not merely once or during one season, but through three successive summers. The same bird returned each season to his grounds, and came each time provided with the same variety of airs.
Mr. Nuttall, who dwells with much force upon the beauty and earnestness of expression of the song of this species, has also noticed and remarked upon the power of individuals to vary their song, from time to time, with very agreeable effect, but no one has recorded so remarkable an instance as that thus carefully noted by Mr. Paine.
These birds are found in almost any cultivated locality where the grounds are sufficiently open. They prefer the edges of open fields, and those of meadows and low grounds, but are rarely found in woods or in thick bushes, except near their outer edges. They nest naturally on the ground, and in such situations a large majority build their nests. These are usually the younger birds. A portion, almost always birds of several summers, probably taught by sad experiences of the insecurity of the ground, build in bushes. A pair which had a nest in an adjoining field had been robbed, by a cat, of their young when just about to fly. After much lamentation, and an interval of a week, I found this same pair, which I easily recognized, building their nest among some vines near my house, some eight feet from the ground. They had abandoned my neighbor’s grounds and taken refuge close to my house. This situation they resorted to afterwards for several successive summers, each season building two nests, never using the same nest a second time, although each time it was left as clean and in as good condition as when first made. Indeed, this species is remarkable for its cleanliness, both in its own person and in its care of nestlings and nests.
They feed their young chiefly with insects, especially small caterpillars; the destructive canker-worm is one of their favorite articles of food, also the larvæ of insects and the smaller moths. When crumbs of bread are given them, they are eagerly gathered and taken to their nests.
In the Middle States they are said to have three broods in a season. This may also be so in New England, but I have never known one pair to have more than two broods in the same summer, even when both had been successfully reared. Nests found after July have always been in cases where some accident had befallen the preceding brood.
The nest of the Song Sparrow, whether built on ground, bush, or tree, is always well and thoroughly made. Externally and at the base it consists of stout stems of grasses, fibrous twigs of plants, and small sticks and rootlets. These are strongly wrought together. Within is made a neat, well-woven basket of fine long stems of grasses, rarely anything else. On the ground they are usually concealed beneath a tuft of grass; sometimes they make a covered passage-way of several inches, leading to their nest. When built in a tree or shrub, the top is often sheltered by the branches or by dry leaves, forming a covering to the structure.
The eggs of the Song Sparrow are five in number, and have an average measurement of .82 by .60 of an inch. They have a ground of a clay-color or dirty white, and are spotted equally over the entire egg with blotches of a rusty-brown, intermingled with lighter shades of purple. In some these markings are so numerous and confluent as to entirely conceal the ground-color; in others they are irregularly diffused over different parts, leaving patches unmarked. Occasionally the eggs are unspotted, and are then not unlike those of Leucosticte griseinucha.
Zonotrichia fallax, Baird, Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, June, 1854, 119 (Pueblo Creek, New Mexico). ? Zonotrichia fasciata, (Gm.) Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. 2d Series, I, 1847, 49. Melospiza fallax, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 481, pl. xxvii, f. 2.—Kennerly, P. R. R. X, b. pl. xxvii, f. 2.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 215.
Sp. Char. Similar to var. melodia, but with the bill on the whole rather smaller, more slender, and darker. Legs quite dusky, not yellow. Entire plumage of a more grayish cast, including the whole superciliary stripe. The streaks on throat and jugulum in spring are almost black, as in melodia; in autumn more rufous; in all cases quite as sharply defined as in melodia. The bill is nearly black in spring.
Hab. Middle Province of United States, to the Sierra Nevada.
This race, intermediate between melodia and heermanni in habitat, is, however, hardly so in characters. The bill is more slender than in either, being much like that of guttata, and the tail is longer in proportion to the wing. In colors it is paler than either, the ground-cast above being nearly clear grayish: the streaks, both on the back and jugulum, are more sparse, as well as narrower; very frequently, in the winter plumage, those beneath lack the central black, being wholly rufous; such is the case with the type. In summer, however, they are frequently entirely black, the external rufous having entirely disappeared. As in heermanni, the rump is immaculate. The young bird differs as does the adult, though the resemblance to those of melodia and heermanni is more close than in the adult. The very narrow bill and long tail are the most characteristic features of form.
Habits. In habits and song, Dr. Cooper can find no appreciable differences between this variety and its nearest allies. He states that its nest, which he found in a willow thicket, was composed of bark and fine twigs and grass, and lined with hair. Its eggs he describes as bluish-white, blotched and streaked with reddish-brown, and as measuring .74 by .55 of an inch.
Dr. Coues found this species a common and permanent resident in Arizona, and he pronounces its habits, manners, and voice precisely like those of M. melodia. This species, he states, occurs throughout New Mexico, Arizona, and a part of Southern California, and is particularly abundant in the valley of the Colorado.
Dr. Kennerly observed this species only along Pueblo Creek, in the month of January. It did not confine itself to the open valley, but was often seen among the thick bushes that margined the creek, far up into the Aztec Mountains, where the snow covered the ground. In its habits it resembled the Poospiza belli, being very restless and rapid in its motions, accompanying them with a short chirp, feeding upon the seeds of the weeds that remained uncovered by the snow. Its flight was also rapid and near the earth. The bird being very shy, Dr. Kennerly found it difficult to procure many specimens.
According to Mr. Ridgway, the Western Song Sparrow is one of the most abundant of the resident species inhabiting the fertile portions of the Great Basin. It principally occupies the willows along the streams, but is also found in tulé sloughs of the river valleys. From a long acquaintance with the Western Song Sparrows, Mr. Ridgway is fully convinced of the propriety of recognizing this as a distinct variety from the eastern M. melodia. In all respects, as to habits, especially in its familiarity, it replaces at the West the well-known Song Sparrow of the East. When first heard, the peculiar measure and delivery of its song at once attracts attention. The precision of style and method of utterance are quite distinct and constant peculiarities. The song, though as pleasing, is not so loud as that of the eastern Song Sparrow, while the measure is very different. He noted the syllables of its song, and found them quite uniform. He expresses the song thus: Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha—wit´—tur´-r-r-r-r-r—tut. The first six syllables as to accent are exactly alike, but with a considerable interval or pause between the first and second notes. The second to the fifth follow in rapid succession, each being uttered with deliberation and distinctness. Then comes a pause between the last “cha” and the “wit,” which is pronounced in a fine metallic tone with a rising inflection, then another pause, and a liquid trill with a falling inflection, the whole terminating abruptly with a very peculiar “tut,” in an entirely different key from the other notes.
The nests and eggs were found in the Wahsatch Mountains, June 23. The nests were generally among bushes, in willow thickets, along the streams, about a foot from the ground. One of these nests found in a clump of willows, about two feet from the ground and near a stream, is a compact, firmly built nest, in the shape of an inverted dome. It is two and a half inches in height, and about the same in diameter. Externally it is composed of a coarse framework of strips of willow