. 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 Rufous-crowned Sparrow Brown Towhee, and I passed on, musing upon the ways of Lazulis, when a song burst forth at my elbow near the roadside. Suit suit zul eb stutz tuzzuzzu wei, said the voice, and I should have let it pass for the song of the Lazuli if curiosity had not been provoked by its nearness. There in a brush-clump not ten feet away sat a Rufous-crowned Sparrow vigorously delivering himself of the stolen (?) song. Fortunately, the Laz
. 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 Rufous-crowned Sparrow Brown Towhee, and I passed on, musing upon the ways of Lazulis, when a song burst forth at my elbow near the roadside. Suit suit zul eb stutz tuzzuzzu wei, said the voice, and I should have let it pass for the song of the Lazuli if curiosity had not been provoked by its nearness. There in a brush-clump not ten feet away sat a Rufous-crowned Sparrow vigorously delivering himself of the stolen (?) song. Fortunately, the Lazuli returned presently to defend his honors, and I had ample oppor- tunity to make a critical comparison of their songs. The resemblance is, after all, superficial, due rather to the accidental characters before enumerated than to quality. The Sparrow's song is more sprightly, more varied, and of a sharper, more penetrating quality. It is rather less musical, and it lacks altogether that caressing drawl which marks the Finch's effort. A few moments later the Rufous-crown took a station well up in a eucalyptus tree and burst forth with great regularity at intervals of ten seconds, with each "performance" lasting about one and a half seconds. The song is so little stereotyped that it contains hints now of Vesper, now of Lark Sparrow (in the kitty kitty opening notes), now of Willow Goldfinch (for vivacity), but always, most of all, of Lazuli Bunting. On Santa Cruz Island, where I found the birds abundant in the spring of 1915, I was deceived repeatedly by the chattering, vivacious, and ^wren-like qualities of the Rufous-crown's song. Wee chee chit i wit chit i wit chit it, the bird said, all at a breath; and it may be that there is an average shade of difference in the insular song, but Lord forbid that the species-hunters should get after them on that account. For fear they might, I will say that prickly pears are very abundant on Santa Cruz Island, and that the birds
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1923
