. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Fox Sparrows STRENGTHENING of the mandibles is one of the most familiar lines of development in spar- rows, the world over. Just why it should so conspicuously affect the Californian races of the wide-spread Fox Spar- row group, we are not quite prepared to say; but it is probably be- cause of the larger pro- portion which nuts and the sturdier seeds bear in their bill of fare. De- velopment in this regard is fairly rapid, too, so that we may n
. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Fox Sparrows STRENGTHENING of the mandibles is one of the most familiar lines of development in spar- rows, the world over. Just why it should so conspicuously affect the Californian races of the wide-spread Fox Spar- row group, we are not quite prepared to say; but it is probably be- cause of the larger pro- portion which nuts and the sturdier seeds bear in their bill of fare. De- velopment in this regard is fairly rapid, too, so that we may not learn from this character alone whether the megarhyn- cha and stephensi types are derived from a northern stock, or whether they simply went on growing after their fellows emigrated to cooler northern climes. Be that as it may, it is certain that southern California has given its sparrow children harder nuts to crack and tougher twigs to weave into nests—and has presented them, as a consequence, with bigger bills. For P. i. stephensi, of the southern mountains, is preeminent in this regard, having a bill fifty per cent thicker than that of P. i. fulva, upon our north- ern border. There are those who are inconsiderate enough to hint that certain other institutions in southern California are characterized by big bills. Perhaps the proprietors of these establishments would do well to place caged examples of Stephens's Fox Sparrow in their lobbies by way of justification, and answer to grumbling guests, "Que voulez vous? C'est le climat. Voila ; <-,. Taken in San Bernardino Mountain Photo by Wright M. NEST AND EGGS OF STEPHENS FOX SPARROW ON GROUND UNDER BUCK-THORN. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Dawson, William Leon, 1873-1928; Dickey, Donald R. (Donald Ryder), 1887-1932;
Size: 1353px × 1847px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1923
