Chapter VI: Part 6

The interrelations and distributions of the _Passerculus sandwichensis_ group are not at all clear as yet, but the migrant birds of spring and middle fall are usually of this form, and hail from or are bound for the coast of British Columbia and Alaska. At Blaine I have found them skulking about the fish-trap timbers of Semiahmoo spit, during the last week in September; or hiding in the rank grass which lines the little waterways draining into Campbell Creek. At such times they keep cover until one is almost upon them, and then break out with a frightened and protesting _tss_, only to seek shelter again a dozen feet away.

No. 42.
SAVANNA SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 542 a. Passerculus sandwichensis savanna (Wilson).

Synonyms.—Savannah Sparrow. Meadow Sparrow. Ground Sparrow.

Description.—_Adult_: Similar to _P. sandwichensis_ but decidedly
smaller and darker (usually browner as well), with bill both
relatively and absolutely smaller, and with less or less conspicuous
yellow in superciliary stripe. Length about 5.60 (142.2) wing 2.68
(68); tail 1.90 (48.2); bill .41 (10.4); tarsus .82 (20.8).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; 12-radiant pattern of head; general
streakiness of upperparts; sharply streaked on breast and sides;
darker.

Nesting.—Has not been discovered breeding in Washington but probably
does so. _Nest_ and _Eggs_ as next.

General Range.—Eastern North America breeding from the northern United
States to Labrador and the Hudson Bay country; casual(?) in the
Western United States.

Range in Washington.—Imperfectly made out; many birds resident on
West-side believed to be of this form.

Authorities.—Bowles and Dawson, Auk, Vol. XXV. Oct. 1908, p. 483.

Specimens.—Bowles, Tacoma, April 28, 1907 (4).

Some specimens we get on Puget Sound are no larger than typical _Western_ Savanna, but are more strongly and brightly colored—handsome enough to be _sandwichensis_ proper. Are these _re_saturated forms the bleached _alaudinus_, so long resident in the wet country as to be now reassuming the discarded tints of old? Are they, rather, intergrades between _P. s. sandwichensis_ and _P. s. alaudinus_, theoretically resident on the lower Sound and in B. C.? Or are they casual overflows of true _savanna_, ignorant of our western metes and bounds? I do not know. Tweedledum or tweedledee? Here is a fine problem for the man with a gun, to whom a new subspecies is more than the lives of a thousand innocents. But I disclaim all responsibility in the matter.

No. 43.
WESTERN SAVANNA SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 542b. Passerculus sandwichensis alaudinus (Bonap.).

Synonym.—Gray Savannah Sparrow.

Description.—Similar to _P. s. savanna_ but decidedly paler and
grayer; less bay or none in edging of feathers of upperparts; yellow
of superciliary stripe usually paler, sometimes nearly white; bill
longer and relatively weaker. Other dimensions about as in _P. s.
savanna_.

Recognition Marks.—As in preceding—_paler_.

Nesting.—_Nest_: in grassy meadow, of dried grasses settled deeply
into dead grass or, rarely, into ground. _Eggs_: 4 or 5, grayish white
to light bluish green, profusely dotted or spotted and blotched with
varying shades of brown and slate, sometimes so heavily as to conceal
the ground color. Av. size, .75 × .55 (19 × 13.97). _Season_: third
week in May; one brood.

General Range.—Western North America from the eastern border of the
Great Plains breeding from the plateau of Mexico to northwestern
Alaska; in winter south to Lower California and Guatemala.

Range in Washington.—Both sides of the Cascades in low-lying meadows.
Perhaps sparingly resident in winter on West-side.

Migrations.—_Spring_: About April 1st; Bremerton March 23, 1906.

Authorities.—_Passerculus alaudinus_ Bonap. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R.
Surv. IX. 1858, 447. (T). C&S. L¹. Rh. Ra. Kk. J. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B.

Not every bird can be a beauty any more than every soldier can be a colonel; and when we consider that ten times as many shot-guns are in commission in time of peace as rifles in time of war, we cannot blame a bird for rejoicing in the virtue of humility, envying neither the epaulets of General Blackbird nor even the pale chevrons of Sergeant Siskin. A Savanna Sparrow, especially the washed-out western variety, is a mere detached bit of brown earth done up in dried grasses; a feathered commonplace which the landscape will swallow up the instant you take eyes off it. To be sure, if you can get it quite alone and _very_ near, you see enough to admire in the twelve-radiating pattern of the head, and you may even perceive a wan tint of yellow in the superciliary region; but let the birdling drop upon the ground and sit motionless amidst the grass, or in a criss-cross litter of weed-stalks, and sooner far will you catch the gleam of the needle in the haystack.

Savannas are birds of the meadows, whether fresh or salt, and wherever well-watered grasses and weeds abound, there they may be looked for. During migration, indeed, they may appear in most unexpected places. I saw one last year, at Bremerton, which haunted the vicinity of a tiny cemented pond in the center of a well-kept lawn. This bird hopped about coyly, peering behind blades of grass, and affecting a dainty fright at the sight of water, very much as a Chipping Sparrow might have done. In their nesting habits these little fellows approach more closely to colonizing than any other members of the Sparrow family. Large tracts of land, apparently suitable, are left untenanted; while, in a near-by field of a few acres, half a dozen pairs may be found nesting. More recently the birds have accepted the shelter of irrigated tracts upon the East-side, and their numbers would seem almost certainly to be upon the increase.

To ascertain the presence of these birds, the ear-test is best, when once the song is mastered. The latter consists of a series of lisping and buzzing notes, fine only in the sense of being small, and quite unmusical, _tsut, tsut, tsu wzzzzztsubut_. The sound instantly recalls the eastern Grasshopper Sparrow (_Coturniculus savannarum passerinus_), who is an own cousin; but the preliminary and closing flourishes are a good deal longer than those of the related species, and the buzzing strain shorter.

Love-making goes by example as well as by season, so that when the choral fever is on they are all at it. The males will sing from the ground rather than keep silence, altho they prefer a weed-top, a fence post, or even a convenient tree. The female listens patiently near by, or if she tries to slip away for a bit of food, the jealous lover recalls her to duty by an ardent chase.

The nest is settled snugly in the dead grasses of last year’s ungathered crop, and is thus both concealed from above and upborne from below, and is itself carefully done in fine dead grasses.

The sitting bird does not often permit a close approach, but rises from the nest at not less than thirty feet. The precise spot is, therefore, very difficult to locate. If discovered the bird will potter about with fine affection of listlessness, and seems to consider that she has done her full duty in not showing the eggs.

No. 44.
DESERT SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 573 a. Amphispiza bilineata deserticola Ridgw.

Description.—_Adults_: Above brownish gray, browner on middle of back
and on wings; a conspicuous white superciliary stripe bounded narrowly
by black above and separated from white malar stripe (not reaching
base of bill) by gray on sides of head; lores, anterior portion of
malar region, chin, throat and chest centrally black, the last named
with convex posterior outline; remaining underparts white tinged with
grayish on sides and flanks; tail blackish, the outer web of outermost
rectrix chiefly white, the inner web with white spot on tip, second
rectrix (sometimes third or even fourth) tipped with white on inner
web. Bill dusky; feet and legs brownish black. _Young_ birds like
adults but without black pattern of head markings; chin and throat
white or flecked with grayish; breast streaked with same and back
faintly streaked with dusky; some buffy edging on wing. Length of
adults about 5.35 (135.9); wing 2.55 (65); tail 2.48 (63); bill .40
(10); tarsus .75 (19).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; grayish coloration; strong white
superciliary; _black_ throat distinctive.

Nesting.—Not yet reported from Washington. “_Nest_ in bushes, slight
and frail, close to the ground; _eggs_ 2-5, 0.72 × 0.58 (18.3 × 14.7),
white with a pale greenish or bluish tinge, unmarked; laid in May,
June and later” (Coues).

General Range.—Arid districts of southwestern United States and
northwestern Mexico west from western Texas to California north
probably to southern Idaho and Washington; south, in winter to
Chihuahua, Sonora and Lower California.

Range in Washington.—Probably summer resident in Upper Sonoran and
Arid Transition life-zones; believed to be recently invading State
from south.

Authority.—Dawson, Auk, Vol. XXV. Oct. 1908, p. 483.

If one happens to be fairly well acquainted with the licensed musicians of the sage, the presence of a strange voice in the morning chorus is as noticeable as a scarlet golf jacket at church. The morning light was gilding the cool gray of a sage-covered hillside in Douglas County, on the 31st day of May, 1908, and the bird-man was mechanically checking off the members of the desert choir, Brewer Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow and the rest, as they reported for duty, one by one, when suddenly a fresh voice of inquiry, _Blew chee tee tee_, burst from the sage at a stone’s cast. The binoculars were instantly levelled and their use alternated rapidly with that of note-book and pencil as the leading features of the stranger’s dress were seized upon in order of saliency: Black chin and throat with rounded extension on chest outlined against whitish of underparts and separated from grayish dusky of cheeks by white malar stripe; lores, apparently including eye, black; brilliant white superciliary stripe; crown and back warm light brown.

The newcomer was a male Desert Sparrow and the interest aroused by his appearance was considerably heightened when it was recalled that he was venturing some five hundred miles north of his furthest previously recorded range. This bird, probably the same individual, was seen and heard on several occasions subsequent thruout a stretch of half a mile bordering on Brook Lake. Once a female was glimpsed in company with her liege lord, flitting coquettishly from bush to bush; but the most diligent search failed to discover a nest, if such there was. Nesting was most certainly on the gallant’s mind for he sang at faithful intervals. The notes of his brief but musical offering had something of the gushing and tinkling quality of a Lark Sparrow’s. A variant form, _whew, whew, whiterer_, began nicely but degenerated in the last member into the metallic clicking of Towhee.

We have here, in all probability, another and a very conspicuous example of that northward trend of species which we shall have frequent occasion to remark. The passion of the North Pole quest is not merely a human weakness; it is a deep-rooted instinct which we only share with the birds. There was once a near-Eden yonder, a Pliocene paradise, from which the cruel ice evicted us—birds and men—long, long ago. We go now to reclaim our own.

No. 45.
SAGE SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 574.1. Amphispiza nevadensis (Ridgw.).

Synonyms.—Artemisia Sparrow. Nevada Sage Sparrow.

Description.—_Adults_: Upperparts (including auriculars and sides of
neck) ashy gray to ashy brown, clearer and grayer anteriorly, browner
posteriorly; pileum, back and scapulars sharply and narrowly streaked
with black; wings and tail dull black with light brownish or pale
grayish edging; the rectrices marked with white much as in preceding
species; a supraloral spot, an orbital ring and (usually) a short
median line on forehead white; sides of head slaty gray; lores dusky;
underparts white, clearest on throat where bounded and set off from
white of malar area by interrupted chain of dusky streaks,
occasionally with dusky spot on center of breast, marked on sides and
flanks with buffy and streaked with dusky; edge of wing pale yellow or
yellowish white. Bill blackish above, lighter below; legs dark brown,
toes darker; iris brown. _Young_: “Pileum, hindneck, chest and sides,
as well as back, streaked with dusky; otherwise essentially as in
adults” (Ridgway). Underparts save on throat sometimes tinged with
yellowish or buffy. Length of adult male about 6.00 (152.4); wing 3.11
(79); tail 2.95 (75); bill .39 (10); tarsus .84 (21.5). Female a
little smaller.

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size (barely); ashy gray plumage; _white_
throat defined by dusky streaks.

Nesting.—_Nest_: of twigs, sage bark, and “hemp” warmly lined with
wool, rabbit-fur, cow-hair or feathers, placed low in crotch of sage
bush. _Eggs_: 3-5, usually 4, brownish- or greenish-gray as to ground,
dotted, spotted or clouded, rarely scrawled, with chestnut or sepia
and with some purplish shell markings. Av. size .80 × .60 (20.3 ×
15.2). _Season_: April, June; two broods.

General Range.—Great Basin region of the Western United States, west
to eastern base of Sierra Nevada, east to eastern base of Rockies,
north (at least) to northern Washington; south, in winter, into
southern Arizona, etc.

Range in Washington.—Upper Sonoran and Arid Transition life zones in
eastern Washington north at least to the Grand Couleé; summer
resident.

Authorities.—[“Sagebrush Sparrow” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884
(1885), 22.] _Amphispiza belli nevadensis_, Dawson, Wilson Bulletin,
No. 39, June, 1902, p. 65. Ss¹. Ss².

Specimens.—U. of W. P.

Thank God for the sage-brush! It is not merely that it clothes the desert and makes its wastes less arid. No one needs to apologize for the unclad open, or to shun it as tho it were an unclean thing. Only little souls do this,—those who, being used to small spaces, miss the support of crowding elbows, and are frightened into peevish complaint when asked to stand alone. To the manly spirit there is exultation in mere space. The ground were enough, the mere Expanse, with the ever-matching blue of the hopeful sky. But when to this is added the homely verdure of the untilled ground, the cup of joy is filled. One snatches at the sage as tho it were the symbol of all the wild openness, and buries his nostrils in its pungent branches to compass at a whiff this realm of unpent gladness. Prosy? Monotonous? Faugh! Back to the city with you! You are not fit for the wilderness unless you love its very wormwood.

The sage has interest or not, to be sure, according to the level from which it is viewed. Regarded from the supercilious level of the man-on-horseback, it is a mere hindrance to the pursuit of the erring steer. The man a-foot has some dim perception of its beauties, but if his errand is a long one he, too, wearies of his devious course. Those who are best of all fitted to appreciate its infinite variety of gnarled branch and velvet leaf, and to revel in its small mysteries, are simple folk,—rabbits, lizards, and a few birds who have chosen it for their life portion. Of these, some look up to it as to the trees of an ancient forest and are lost in its mazes; but of those who know it from the ground up, none is more loyal than the Sage Sparrow. Whether he gathers a breakfast, strewn upon the ground, among the red, white, and blue, of storkbill, chickweed, and fairy-mint, or whether he explores the crevices of the twisted sage itself for its store of shrinking beetles, his soul is filled with a vast content.

Here in the springtime he soon gets full enough for utterance, and mounts the topmost sprig of a sage bush to voice his thanks. In general character the song is a sort of subdued musical croaking, mellow and rich at close quarters, but with little carrying power. The bird throws his head well back in singing, and the tail is carried more nearly horizontal than is the case with most Sparrows. A song from the Yakima country ran: _Heo, chip’peway, chip′peway, chip′peway_, but a common type heard on the banks of the Columbia in Walla Walla County, and repeated upon the northern limit of the bird’s range in Douglas County, is _Tup, tup, to weely, chup, tup_. A more pretentious ditty, occupying two seconds in delivery, runs _Hooriedoppety, weeter wee, doodlety pootat′er_,—an ecstacy song, wherein the little singer seems to be intoxicated with the aroma of his favorite sage.

One may search a long time in the neighborhood of the singer—who, by the way, closes the concert abruptly when he realizes that he is likely to give his secret away—before finding the humble domicile a foot or two up in a sage bush. A nest which contained five eggs was composed externally of sage twigs set into a concealed crotch of the bush, but the bulk of it consisted of weed-bark and “hemp” of a quite uniform quality; while the lining contained tufts of wool, rabbit-fur, cow-hair, feathers, and a few coiled horse-hairs. The feathers were procured at some distant ranch, and their soft tips were gracefully upturned to further the concealment of the eggs, already well protected by their grayish green tints.

Another nest, sighted some forty paces away, contained one egg, and we had high hopes of being able to secure photographs upon our return with the camera. But a few rods further we came upon a crew of sneaking Magpies, scouring the sage with a dozen beady eyes, and passing sneering or vulgarly jocose remarks upon what they found. When we returned, therefore, a day or two later, we were not surprised to learn that the feathered marauders had preferred egg-in-the-bill to souvenir photographs.

No. 46.
SLATE-COLORED JUNCO.

A. O. U. No. 567. Junco hyemalis (Linn.).

Synonyms.—Snow-bird. Eastern Snow-bird.

Description.—_Adult male in summer_: Upperparts, throat and breast
slate-color deepening to slaty-black on pileum, the bluish tinge
lacking on wings and tail; below, abruptly white from the breast, the
flanks ashy slate; the two outer pairs of tail-feathers entirely, and
the third pair principally white; bill flesh-color, usually tipped
with black. _Adult female_: Similar to male; throat and breast paler;
a brownish wash over the upperparts, deepest on nape and upper back;
wings brownish fuscous rather than black, and sides tawny-washed.
_Adult male in winter_, becoming like female, but still
distinguishable. Length 6.00-6.50 (152.4-165.1); wing 3.07 (78); tail
2.80 (71.1); bill .49 (12.5). Female averages slightly smaller than
male.

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; white lateral tail-feathers; hood
_slaty_ as compared with _J. oreganus_ and _J. o. shufeldti_.

Nesting.—Not known to breed in Washington. _Nest_ and _eggs_ as next.

General Range.—North America, chiefly east of the Rocky Mountains,
breeding in the hilly portions of the Northern States (east of the
Rockies) north to the Arctic Coast and west to the valleys of the
Yukon and Kowak Rivers, Alaska; south in winter as far as the Gulf
States and sparingly over the Western States to California, Arizona,
etc.

Range in Washington.—Casual during migrations; may winter rarely in
company with _J. oreganus_.

Authorities.—_Not previously published_: W. T. Shaw _in epist._ Dec.
1, 1908. J. H. Bowles _in epist._ Jan. 19, 1909.

Specimens.—P¹.

This the familiar Snow-bird of the East is occasionally seen west of the Rocky Mountains in winter and during migrations, specimens having been taken at Sumas, B. C., by Mr. Allan Brooks, and at Corvallis, Oregon, by Mr. A. R. Woodcock, in addition to the one reported from Pullman. It is not impossible that the bird is more common than we have been supposing, because, when found, it appears to be mingling freely with flocks of allied species, quite unaware of the fact that such actions are of interest to inquisitive bird-men.

No. 47.
OREGON JUNCO.

A. O. U. No. 567a. Junco oreganus (Towns.).

Synonyms.—“Oregon Snow-finch.” Western Snow-bird. Oregon Snow-bird.
Townsend’s Junco.

Description.—_Adult male_: Head and neck all around and chest
(abruptly defined along convex posterior edge) sooty black; back and
scapulars and edging of tertials warm reddish brown (nearly walnut
brown); rump, upper tail-coverts and middle and greater wing-coverts
slaty gray or ashy gray, sometimes glossed with olivaceous; wings and
tail dusky, edged with ashy; the outermost rectrix wholly and the
second chiefly touched with white, the third pair touched with white
near tip; sides of breast, sides and flanks strongly washed with
pinkish brown (vinaceous cinnamon); remaining underparts (below chest)
white. Bill pinkish white with dusky tip; iris claret red. _Adult
female_: Head and neck all around and chest scarcely contrasting in
color with upperparts but changing from warm brown (bister) above to
dull slaty overlaid with brownish on throat and chest; brown of back
(bister or dull sepia) without reddish tinge; white on second rectrix
not so extensive as in male; wash of sides duller, not so vinaceous.
_Young_: Top of head and hind-neck grayish brown streaked with dusky,
back and scapulars warmer brown streaked with black; throat, chest,
sides and flanks pale buffy brown streaked with blackish; otherwise as
in adult. Length of adult males about 6.35 (161.3); wing 2.95 (75);
tail 2.56 (65); bill .43 (11); tarsus 83 (21). Females smaller.

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; black of head and throat contrasting
with white of breast; white lateral tail-feathers; head _black_ as
compared with _J. hyemalis_; back _reddish_ brown as compared with _J.
o. shufeldti_.

Nesting.—_Nest_: on ground at base of small bush or under fallen
branch, sometimes in open wood or set into brushy hillside, of dead
grasses and weed stems, scantily lined, or not, with hair; dimensions
2½ inches wide by 1½ inches deep inside. _Eggs_: 2-5, usually 4,
varying in ground color from pure white to pinkish white or pale blue,
spotted or freckled and blotched with light reddish brown or brownish
black, with occasional light cloudings of lavender; long oval to short
ovate; variable in size, .80 × .60 (20.3 × 15.2) to .73 × .56 (18.5 ×
14.2). _Season_: fourth week in April to first week in July or August
according to altitude; two or three broods.

General Range.—Pacific Coast district; in summer from southern British
Columbia north to Yakutat Bay, Alaska; in winter south irregularly to
California (Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties), straggling across the
Cascade-Sierras into interior.

Range in Washington.—Formerly summer resident, now chiefly migrant and
winter resident west of the Cascades; winter resident and migrant east
of Cascades.

Authorities.—?Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. VII., 1837, 188
(part). _Junco oreganus_ Sclater, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX.,
1858, 467. T. C&S. L¹. Rh. D¹. Kb. Ra. D². Kk. B.

Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B.

In speaking of Juncoes it is necessary to distinguish between the rufous-backed bird of winter, the Oregon Junco proper, and the brownish-gray-backed bird of summer, the Shufeldt Junco. A dozen years ago _oreganus_ was supposed to be the common breeding bird of Puget Sound and the neighboring foothills, altho Shufeldt’s was well known in the more open situations. Latterly, however, there has not been any authentic account of the nesting of the red-backed bird within the State. 1903 witnessed its last appearance as a summer bird, and that only in the highlands. Recent specimens taken during the breeding season at places so remote from each other as the prairies of Pierce County, the banks of the Pend d’Oreille in Stevens County, and the High Cascades in Whatcom County, have all proven to be _J. o. shufeldti_.

The fact appears to be that we have detected a Washingtonian instance of that northward trend of species clearly recognizable in the East, but obscured to our vision heretofore in the West by reason of varied conditions and insufficient data. The theory is that the birds are still following the retreat of the glacial ice. We know that the glacial ice-sheet, now confined to Greenland and the high North, once covered half the continent. In our own mountains we see the vestigial traces of glaciers which were once of noble proportions. We know that the southward advance of the continental ice-sheet must have driven all animal life before it; and, likewise, that the territory since relinquished by the ice has been regained by the animals. What more natural than that we should witness thru close observation the northward advance of those varieties of birds which are best suited to withstand cold, and the corresponding occupation of abandoned territory on the part of those next south?

Juncoes, moreover, are erratic in their migrations, and in the West, at least, tend to become non-migratory. While Oregon Juncoes are the common winter birds of Puget Sound, Shufeldt’s are not entirely absent at this season, and we may even look to see them hold their own thruout the year. The problem is further complicated by what we call vertical migration, by which is meant that mountain birds descend to the valleys in winter instead of flying southward. Our winter Shufeldts, therefore, may or may not be strictly resident on, say, Steilacoom Prairie. The summer birds may retire to California; the winter birds may have descended from the Olympics or Mount Rainier.

No. 48.
SHUFELDT’S JUNCO.

A. O. U. No. 567b. Junco oreganus shufeldti (Coale).

Synonyms.—Washington Junco. Hybrid Snow-bird (Coues). Rocky Mountain
Junco (Coues).

Description.—_Adults_: Similar to _J. oreganus_ but back (in males)
grayish, or grayish-brown to sepia; in females sepia to drab; black of
head and throat more slaty; also averaging larger. _Length_: 6.00-6.50
(152.4-165); wing 3.15 (80); tail 2.72 (69); bill .43 (11); tarsus .83
(21).

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; black of head and throat contrasting
with brownish-gray of back and with white of breast; _grayer_ on back
than preceding.

Nesting.—_Nest_: much as in preceding, occasionally placed at moderate
heights in trees. _Eggs_: 4 or 5, pale bluish white, spotted and
blotched with light reddish brown and lavender, usually in light ring,
occasionally in confluent mass about larger end; size larger than
preceding. Av. .80 × .60 (20.3 × 15.2). _Season_: fourth week in April
to August according to altitude; two broods.

General Range.—Breeding from northern Oregon north into British
Columbia east to mountains of Alberta and Idaho; south in winter over
Rocky Mountain plateau region to Mexico,—northern California.

Range in Washington.—Common summer resident thruout the State, in or
near coniferous timber, from sea level to limit of trees; sparingly
resident in winter chiefly west of Cascades.

Authorities.—As in preceding. (T). C&S. Sr. Ra. D². J. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. B. Bn.

However it may fare with the Oregon Junco (q. v.), the southern invaders, the birds with the rusty gray backs, now appear to possess the land. They have stolen back sometime in March, so unobtrusively we scarcely noticed when the substitution of gray-backs for red-backs was effected; but soon we do notice that the yards and clearings are frequented by happy rollicking troops of Shufeldt Juncoes, and we notice too that some pronounced flirtations are being carried on.

There is a jovial restlessness about these birds in flock which is contagious. Their every movement is accompanied by a happy titter, and the pursuit of necessities is never so stern that a saucy dare from one of their number will not send the whole company off pell-mell like a route of school-boys. Whenever a Junco starts to wing, it flashes a white signal in the lateral tail-feathers; and this convenient “recognition mark” enables the birds to keep track of each other thruout the maddest gambols in brush-lot or tree-top.

On a sunny day in March the Juncoes gather for a grand concert. The males mount the bush-tops and hold forth in rival strains, while the females lurk under cover and take counsel of their hearts. Junco’s song is a sweet little tinkling trill, not very pretentious, but tender and winsome. Interspersed with this is a variety of sipping and suckling notes, whose uses are hard to discern. Now and then, also, a forcible kissing sound may be heard, evidently a note of repulsion instead of attraction, for it is employed in the breeding season to frighten enemies. During the progress of the concert some dashing young fellow, unable fully to express his emotion in song, runs amuck, and goes charging about thru the woodsy mazes in a fine frenzy—without, however, quite spilling his brains. Others catch the excitement and the company breaks up in a mad whirl of amorous pursuit.

At the end of the brief song period, Juncoes deploy thruout the half-open woods or prairie borders of the entire State, from sea-level to timber-line. The variety and interest of their nesting habits are scarcely exceeded by those of any other bird. In general they appear to be guided by some thought of seclusion or protection in their choice of nesting sites. Steep hillsides or little banks are, therefore, favorite places, for here the bird may excavate a cool grotto in the earth, and allow the drapery of the hillside, mosses and running vines, to festoon and guard the approaches. At Newport we found them nesting in the road-cuts. At Snoqualmie the side of a haystack sheltered a confiding pair. At Tacoma the birds nest at the base of tiny clumps of oak, or under the shelter of brush-piles. Several nests have been found in old tin cans flung down upon the prairie and only half obscured by growing grasses. Again the birds trust to the density of vegetation, and shelter in the grass of unmowed orchards, weed-lots, and meadows. One site was found in which the bird occupied a carefully chosen fern arbor in the midst of a collection of whitened bones, evidently the mortal remains of a defunct draft horse. The situation was delightfully gruesome, and, touched no doubt with vanity, the owner sat for her portrait at four feet, á la Bernhardt.

Juncoes keep very quiet during the nesting season until disturbed, and they are very close sitters. When nearly stepped on the bird bursts off, and, if there are young, crawls and tumbles along the ground within a few feet of the intruder, displaying wings and tail in a most appealing manner. The _tssiks_ of both birds are incessantly repeated, and the whole woodside is set agog with apprehension.

If one posts himself in a suspected locality not too near the nest, it is only a question of time till the solicitude of the nursing mother will triumph over fear. One such I traced to a charming mossy bank, overlooking a woodland pool; but on the first occasion it took the parent bird exactly half an hour to go thru all the feints and preliminaries before she ventured on the final plunge. There were half-grown babies in this nest, and since we were in summer camp (at Glacier, near the foot of Mt. Baker), I resolved to make friends of this promising family with a view to portraiture.

As I sat next day watching my Juncoes, and waiting for the sun to get around and light up the vicinity of the nest, the call to dinner sounded. The mother bird, not without much misgiving and remonstrance, had just visited her babies, so I rose to go; but as I did so, caught sight of a stout garter snake, who lay watching the scene from a distance of fully twenty feet, a wicked gleam of intelligence in his eye. With quick suspicion of his purpose, I seized stones and hurled at his retreating form; but the ground was rough and he managed to escape into a large brush-pile. At table I ate hurriedly, listening the while for the faintest note of trouble. When it came, a quick outcry from both parents, instead of premonitory notes of discovery, I sprang to my feet, clutched a stick, and rushed down to the spring. Alas for us! Satan had found our Eden! The nest was emptied and the snake lay coiled over it in the act of swallowing one of the little birds. Not daring to strike, I seized him by the throat and released the baby Junco, whose rump only had disappeared into the devouring jaws. Then with the stick I made snake’s-head jelly on a rock and flung the loathsome reptile away. But it was all too late. One young bird lay drowned upon the bottom of the pool, and the other (I think there were only two) soon died of fright and the laceration of the hinder parts attendant upon ophidian deglutition. It was all so horrible! the malignant plan, the stealthy approach, the sudden alarm, the wanton destruction of the fledglings, the grief of the agonized parents, the remorse of the helper who came too late! Is it any wonder that our forbears have pictured the arch-enemy as a serpent?

No. 49.
WESTERN TREE SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 559 a. Spizella monticola ochracea Brewster.

Description.—_Adults_: Pileum, a streak behind eye and a small patch
on side of chest cinnamon-rufous or light chestnut; a superciliary
stripe and remaining portions of head and neck clear ashy gray; throat
and chest of same shade superficially but duller by virtue of
concealed dusky; an ill defined spot of dusky in center of lower
chest; remaining underparts dull white washed on sides with brownish;
general color of upperparts light buffy grayish brown, much
outcropping black on back, scapulars and tertials; some rusty edging
on back feathers, scapulars and greater wing-coverts; middle and
greater wing-coverts tipped with white, forming two conspicuous bands;
flight feathers and rectrices grayish dusky margined with whitish and
buffy. Bill blackish above, yellow, tipped with dusky, below; legs
brown, feet darker; iris brown. _In winter_ the cinnamon-rufous of
crown is slightly veiled, especially along median area, by ashy
skirtings of feathers, and the buffy of upperparts inclines to
strengthen. Length about 6.00 (152.4); wing 3.00 (76); tail 2.68 (68);
bill .39 (10); tarsus .82 (20.8).

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; resembles Western Chipping Sparrow
but much larger; white wing-bars with chestnut of crown distinctive.

Nesting.—Does not breed in Washington. “_Nest_, in low bushes or on
the ground, loosely constructed of bark strips, weeds and grasses,
warmly lined with feathers. _Eggs_, 4-6, or even 7, pale green,
minutely and regularly sprinkled with reddish brown spots” (Coues).
Av. size, .75 × .60 (19.1 × 15.2).

General Range.—Breeding from the valley of Anderson River, near the
Arctic coast westward thru Alaska to coast of Bering Sea, and for an
undetermined distance southward; in winter south thru western North
America to Arizona, Texas, etc., eastward across Rocky Mts. to Great
Plains (Ridgway).

Range in Washington.—Not common winter resident and migrant. Has not
recently been reported west of the Cascades.

Authorities.—Brewster, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, VII. 1882, pp. 227, 228.
(T). (C&S). Sr. D².

Specimens.—(U. of W.). P¹. Prov.

“The sight of the first Tree Sparrow in the fall serves perfectly to call up a vision of impending winter. Here are the hurrying blasts, the leaden skies, the piling snow-drifts, all ready to make the beholder shiver. But here, too, in some unburied weed patch, or thicket of rose-briars, is a company of Tree Sparrows, stout-hearted and cold-defying, setting up a merry tinkling chorus, as eloquent of good cheer as a crackling Yule-log. How many times has the bird-man hastened out after some cruel cold snap, thinking, ’Surely this will settle for my birds,’ only to have his fears rebuked by a troop of these hardy Norsemen revelling in some back pasture as if they had found their Valhalla on this side the icy gates. Ho! brothers! here is food in these capsules of mustard and cockle; here is wine distilled from the rose-hips; here is shelter in the weedy mazes, or under the soft blanket of the snow. What ho! Lift the light song! Pass round the cup again! Let mighty cheer prevail!” (Birds of Ohio).

Truth to tell, the Western Tree Sparrows are somewhat rare winter visitors, in eastern Washington only. In habits they do not appear to differ materially from the typical form, which is very abundant in winter thruout the northern tier of eastern states. In the nature of the case, while with us, their food, consisting as it does of grass- and weed-seeds and dried berries, is found near the ground; and so, for the season, the name Tree Sparrow seems inconsistent. When persistently annoyed, however, the flock will rise to the tree-tops in straggling fashion, and there either await the withdrawal of the intruder, or else make off at a good height.

The song of the Tree Sparrow is sweet and tuneful, affording a pleasing contrast to the monotonous ditty of the Western Chipping Sparrow. Snatches of song may be heard, indeed, on almost any mild day in winter; but the spring awakening assures a more pretentious effort. A common form runs, _Swee-ho, sweet, sweet, sweet_, with notes of a most flattering tenderness. But we may only guess at the bird’s full powers, for the home-making is in Alaska.

No. 50.
WESTERN CHIPPING SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 560 a. Spizella passerina arizonæ (Coues).

Synonyms.—Chippy. Hair-bird.

Description.—_Adult_: Crown bright chestnut; extreme forehead black
with ashy median line; a light ashy superciliary stripe; lore and
postocular streak black; underparts and sides of head and neck ashy
gray, dullest on breast and sides, clearest on throat where nearly
white; hind-neck and wings bluish ash, the former more or less
streaked with blackish; back and scapulars light brown (isabella
color) heavily streaked with black; wings and tail fuscous. Bill dark;
feet light; iris brown. _Young birds_ are streaked with dusky above
and below and lack the chestnut of crown. Length of adult males:
5.00-5.50 (127-139.7); wing 2.83 (72); tail 2.36 (60); bill .39 (10);
tarsus .67 (17). Females smaller.

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; chestnut crown and whitish
superciliary distinctive.

Nesting.—_Nest_: A compact or careless structure of fine twigs,
grasses, and (most commonly and often exclusively) rootlets, heavily
lined with horse hair; placed in sage-bush, wild rose thicket or
shrubbery, or else on horizontal branch of apple tree or evergreen.
_Eggs_: 3-5, usually 4, greenish blue speckled freely or in narrow
ring about larger end with reddish brown and black. Av. size, .71 ×
.51 (18 × 13). _Season_: April-July, usually May and June; two broods.

General Range.—Western North America from the Rockies to the Coast
breeding from the southern border of the United States north to the
Yukon Valley in Alaska, east over the western provinces of Canada;
south in winter to Mexico and Lower California.

Range in Washington.—Common summer resident thruout the State chiefly
in settled portions and more open situations.

Migrations.—_Spring_: Yakima, April 12, 1900; Chelan, April 24, 1896;
Tacoma, April 12, 1905, April 11, 1906.

Authorities.—_Spizella socialis_ Bonap. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv.
IX. 1858, 473 part. (T). C&S. D¹. Ra. D². Ss². Kk. J. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B. E.

Not all birds are fitly named, even in the “immutable Latin,” but this one has a very accurate title in _Spizella socialis arizonæ_[16], which we may freely translate as _the friendly little sparrow of the desert_. An obscure little fellow he is to eye, a skit done in faded browns, with a chestnut crown which still does not differentiate the owner from a withered corymb in his native sage. Of the desert he is, for there is no sage-brush wilderness too dreary to boast the presence of at least a few Chipping Sparrows. And friendly he is, beyond question, for there are few dooryards in the eastern part of the State where this bird is not a trustful visitor; and his presence in western Washington is nearly coextensive with that of man. For altho the Chipping Sparrow now abounds in the prairie region of Pierce and adjacent counties, it is instructive to note that its plumage gives no evidence of resaturation, or of departure from the bleached type, as would be the case if it belonged to one of the really “old families” of Puget Sound.

Whatever the weather, Chippy returns to us about the 12th day of April, posts himself on the tip of a fir branch, like a brave little Christmas candle, and proceeds to sputter, in the same part. Of all homely sounds the monotonous trill of the Western Chipping Sparrow is the most homely,—and the most easily forgivable. As music it scarcely ranks above the rattle of castanets; but the little singer pours out his soul full earnestly, and his ardor often leads him to sustained effort thruout the sultry hours when more brilliant vocalists are sulking in the shade; and for this we come to prize his homely ditty like the sound of plashing waters.

Two Chipping Sparrow songs heard near Tacoma deserve special mention. One likened itself in our ears to a tool being ground on a small emery wheel. The wheel has a rough place on its periphery which strikes against the tool with additional force and serves to mark a single revolution, but the continuous burr which underlies the accented points, or trill-crests, is satisfied by this comparison alone. The other effort, a peculiar buzz of varying intensity, carries forward the same idea of continuous sound, but the comparison changes. In this the song appears to pour from the tiny throat without effort, and its movement is as tho an unseen hand controlled an electric buzz, whose activity varies with the amount of “juice” turned on: zzzzzzzzzzt, zzz_zzzz_zzzt, _zzzz_zzzzzzt, ZZZ_ZZZZ_ZZZT, ZZZZZZZ_ZZZT_.

Chippy’s nest is a frail affair at best, altho often elaborately constructed of fine twigs, rootlets and grasses with a plentiful lining of horse-hair. In some instances the last-named material is exclusively employed. A sage-bush is the favorite situation on the plains of the Columbia, a horizontal fir branch in the wet country. Rose thickets are always popular, and where the bird frankly forsakes the wilds, ornamental shrubbery and vines are chosen. The nests are often so loosely related to their immediate surroundings as to give the impression of having been constructed elsewhere, and then moved bodily to their present site. Some are set as lightly as feathers upon the tips of evergreen branches, and a heavy storm in season is sure to bring down a shower of Chippies’ nests.

Eggs are laid during the first or second week of May in the vicinity of American Lake and from one to three weeks earlier in the sage country. They are among the most familiar objects in Nature, and particular description of them ought to be unnecessary. But every person who knows that we are interested in birds has to stop us on the street to tell about the “cunningest little nest, you know, with four of the cutest——” “Hold on,” we say; “were the eggs blue?” “Yes,” “With dots on them?” “Why, yes; how did you know?”

Incubation lasts only ten days and two broods are raised in each season. Chipping Sparrows are very devoted parents and the sitting female will sometimes allow herself to be taken in the hand. The male bird is not less sedulous in the care of the young, and he sometimes exercises a fatherly oversight of the first batch of babies, while his mate is preparing for the June crop.

No. 51.
BREWER’S SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 562. Spizella breweri Cassin.

Description.—_Adults_: Upperparts grayish brown, brightest brown on
back, everywhere (save on remiges and rectrices) streaked with black
or dusky, narrowly on crown, more broadly on back and scapulars, less
distinctly on rump; wing-coverts and tertials varied by edgings of
brownish buff; flight-feathers and rectrices dark grayish brown or
dusky with some edging of light grayish brown; a broad pale buffy
superciliary stripe scarcely contrasting with surroundings; underparts
dull whitish tinged on sides and across breast by pale buffy gray.
Bill pale brown darkening on tip and along culmen; feet pale brown,
iris brown. _Young_ birds are less conspicuously streaked above;
middle and greater coverts broadly tipped with buffy forming two
distinct bands; breast streaked with dusky. Length 5.30 (1.35); wing
2.44 (62); tail 2.38 (60.5); bill .38 (8.8); tarsus .68 (17.4).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; general streaked appearance;
_absence_ of distinguishing marks practically distinctive;
sage-haunting habits.

Nesting.—_Nest_: of small twigs and dried grasses, lined with
horse-hair, set loosely in sage-bush. _Eggs_: 4 or 5, greenish blue,
dotted and spotted, sometimes in ring about larger end, with reddish
brown. Av. size .67 × .49 (17 × 12.4). _Season_: April, June; two
broods.

General Range.—Sage-brush plains of the West, breeding from Arizona to
British Columbia and east to western Nebraska and western Texas; south
in winter to Mexico and Lower California.

Range in Washington.—Open country of the East-side, abundant summer
resident; occasionally invades Cascade Mountains (only in late
summer?).

Migrations.—_Spring_: Yakima March 29, 1900.

Authorities.—[“Brewer’s sparrow,” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884
(1885), 22]. Dawson, Auk, XIV, 1897, 178. D². Ss¹. Ss².

Specimens.—U. of W. P. C.

It is never quite fair to say that Nature produces a creature which harmonizes perfectly with its surroundings, for the moment we yield tribute of admiration to one creature, we discover amid the same circumstances another as nearly perfect but entirely different. When we consider the Sage Sparrow we think that Nature cannot improve much upon his soft grays by way of fitness for his desert environment; but when we come upon the Brewer Sparrow, we are ready to wager that here the dame has done her utmost to produce a bird of non-committal appearance. Mere brown might have been conspicuous by default, but brownish, broken up by hazy streakings of other brownish or dusky—call it what you will—has given us a bird which, so far as plumage is concerned, may be said to have no mark of distinction whatever—just bird.

The Sage Sparrow fits into the gray-green massy scheme of color harmony in the artemisia, while Brewer’s fits into the somber, brown-and-streaky scheme of its twigs and branches. To carry out the comparison, do not look for _breweri_ early in the season, when the breath of the rain rises from the ground and the air is astir: he is there, of course, but disregard him. Wait, rather, until the season is advanced, when the incomparable sun of Yakima has filled the sage-brush full to overflowing, and it begins to ooze out heat in drowsy, indolent waves. Then listen: _Weeeezzz, tubitubitubitubitub_, the first part an inspired trill, and the remainder an exquisitely modulated expirated trill in descending cadence. Instantly one conceives a great respect for this plain dot in feathers, whose very existence may have passed unnoticed before. The descending strain of the common song has, in some individuals, all the fine shading heard in certain imported canaries. Pitch is conceded by infinitesimal gradations, whereby the singer, from some heaven of fancy, brings us down gently to a topmost twig of earthly attainment. Nor does the song in other forms lack variety. In fact, a midday chorus of Brewer Sparrows is a treat which makes a tramp in the sage memorable.

Brewer’s Sparrow is of the sage sagey, and its range in Washington is almost exactly co-extensive with the distribution of that doughty shrub; but it is of record that _Spizella breweri_ indulges in some romantic vacations, a specimen being once taken by me (July 25, 1900) at 8000 feet, upon the glacier levels of Wright’s Peak.

No. 52.
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 557. Zonotrichia coronata (Pall.).

Description.—_Adults_: A broad crown stripe gamboge-yellow, changing
abruptly to ashy gray on occiput; this bounded on each side by broad
stripe of silky black meeting fellow on forehead; remaining upperparts
grayish brown, broadly streaked with black on back, more or less edged
with dull chestnut on back, wing-coverts and tertials, glossed with
olive on rump and tail; middle and greater coverts tipped with white
forming conspicuous bars; chin, throat and sides of head ashy gray
with obscure vermiculations of dusky; remaining underparts washed with
buffy brown, darkest on sides and flanks, lightest, to dull white, on
belly, obsoletely and finely barred on breast. Bill blackish above,
paler below; feet pale; iris brown. _Immature_: Without definite
head-stripe; crown broadly dull olive-yellow, clearest on forehead,
elsewhere sharply flecked with blackish in wedge-shaped marks, giving
way to grayish brown or dull chestnut behind and to blackish on sides
(variably according to age?). Length 7.20 (182.8); wing 3.28 (83.3);
tail 3.06 (77.7); bill .48 (12.2); tarsus .96 (24.3).

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; yellow of crown distinctive in any
plumage.

Nesting.—Does not breed in Washington. _Nest_ and _eggs_ said to be
very similar to those of _Z. l. nuttalli_.

General Range.—Pacific Coast and Bering Sea districts of Alaska; south
in winter thru the Pacific States to Lower California; occasionally
straggles eastward.

Range in Washington.—Spring and fall migrant both sides of the
Cascades, more common westerly.

Migrations.—_Spring_: c. April 21 (West-side); c. May 20 (Chelan).

Authorities.—?_Emberiza atricapilla_ Aud. Orn. Biog. V. 1839, 47; pl.
394. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. Vol. IX. 1858, 462. C&S. L². D¹. Kb.
Ra. Kk. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. E.

Regal tho he be, this sparrow is discreet in the matter of appearances, and does not cultivate the public eye. Washington is only a way-station in his travels, and the splendors and liberties of court life are reserved for Alaska. Appearing at Tacoma during the last week in April, demure companies of Golden-crowns may not infrequently be seen associated with migrating Nuttalls. They are in no hurry, or perhaps the haste of midnight flight is over when we see them yawning sleepily in the bushes of a morning. They are languid too as they deploy upon the park lawns, always within reach of cover, in search of fallen seeds or lurking beetles. Their leisurely movements contrast strongly with the bustling activities of the local Nuttalls; for the latter are burdened with the care of children, before the Alaskan migrants have forsworn bachelorhood. East of the Cascade Mountains the northward movement of this species is even more tardy, and May 18-22 are the dates at which I have recorded it at Chelan.

Migrating Zonotrichias are all coquettishly retiring, and the first hint of danger sends them scuttling into the bushes. If one presses up to the edge of the brush, he may hear an uncanny rustling among the leaves and branches as the birds retreat, but not a single note is uttered. Left to themselves, the birds become sociable with many _zinks_ common to the genus; and, if unusually merry, the Golden-crowns indulge a sweet, preparatory _hoo ^hee_ which reminds one of both the White-crowned (_Z. leucophrys_) and White-throated (_Z. albicollis_) Sparrows of the East; but the song has never been completed here to our knowledge.

Suckley said that Golden-crowned Sparrows were abundant in summer both at Fort Dalles and Fort Steilacoom, but this was undoubtedly a mistake, as the records of alleged nesting in California proved to be. On the other hand they may winter with us to some extent, since Mr. Bowles took a specimen on December 16, 1907, in the Puyallup Valley.

No. 53.
GAMBEL’S SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 554 a. Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii (Nuttall).

Synonyms.—Intermediate-crowned Sparrow. Intermediate Sparrow.

Description.—_Adults_: Crown pure white, becoming gray behind; lateral
crown-stripes meeting in front, and post-ocular stripes, jet black,
separated by white stripe continuous with lore; remainder of head,
neck all around, and entire underparts slaty gray, darkest on nape,
whitening on chin and belly, with a tawny wash on flanks and crissum;
back and scapulars brown (burnt umber) edged with gray; rump and upper
tail-coverts tawny olivaceous; wings and tail fuscous, the tertials
dark-centered with edgings of bay and white; middle and greater
coverts tipped with white, forming two inconspicuous wing-bars;
rectrices with brown shafts and tawny edgings, bill reddish brown
above, saffron yellow below, with tip of maxilla black. _Young_ of the
year have the black of head replaced by light chestnut, and the white
by ochraceo-fuscous or gray; in general darker and browner above than
adult. Length 6.50-7.00 (165-180); wing 3.07 (78); tail 2.76 (70);
bill .42 (10.7); tarsus .89 (22.5).

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; broad white crown and jet black
lateral stripes strongly contrasting; slightly larger and general
coloration lighter than in _Z. l. nuttalli_; white crown-stripe
broader.

Nesting.—As next; not known to breed in Washington but probably does
so.

General Range.—Western North America, breeding from Montana, eastern
Oregon, etc., northward between coast mountains of British Columbia
and Alaska and the interior plains to the lower Mackenzie and Anderson
River Valleys, thence westward thruout Alaska to the coast of Bering
Sea; in winter southward across western United States into Mexico and
Lower California, straggling eastward across the Great Plains.

Range in Washington.—Abundant spring and fall migrant on the
East-side, possibly summer resident; doubtless migrant west of
Cascades, but no specimens taken.

Migrations.—_Spring_: April 20-May 20. Wallula, April 24, 1905;
Chelan, April 24, 1896; Brook Lake, June 7, 1908.

Authorities.—_Fringilla gambelii_ Nuttall, Man. Orn. U. S. & Canada,
2d Ed., 1, 1840, 556. _Z. gambeli intermedia_ Brewster, B. N. O. C.
VII. 1882, p. 227. D¹. Sr. D². Kk. J.

Specimens.—U. of W. C. P.

It is probably safe to say that during the height of their spring migrations, viz., April 15th to May 15th, these birds exceed in numbers all the other sparrows of eastern Washington combined. Indeed, on certain occasions, it would seem that they are more numerous than all other birds combined. And this altho they do not move in great flocks in the open, like Redpolls, but flit and skulk wherever there is show of cover. Wayside thickets, spring draws, and the timbered banks of streams are favorite places. The more isolated the cover the more certain it is to be held as a Zonotrichian stronghold, and they are sometimes so hard put to it for shelter that they resort in numbers to the sage-brush, where they affect great secretiveness.