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 September, 9o2. I THE CONDOR o9 ing become very secretive. A tramp through the sage failed to flush any in- dividuals. April 2 7 waq destined to prove more fruitful of success, and [ quote my notes for the trip: "We drove over to the sparrow district this morning. It was a beautiful day for bird-life. We both went over the hill and alonff the stone wall, and in the sane could be heard the shrill call note of the sparrow and occasionally its sonfl. Apparently several pairs are breeding in the patch. Arkansas goldfinches were flitting and twitterinN about the hill and one flushed front a sa.,e bush where I found its nest and four eggs in a crotch three feet up. "We then beat back and forth at ran- dom in the saffe, now and then catching a glimpse of a rufous crowned sparrow or hearina its son. But any attem[t at watchinN one to its nest seemed a most improbable thing. At this season the birds are very secretive and vhile one can work up to within Nun-shot the birds were ready to chartfie positions at the least alarm. The males evidence some interest for although they would sit on a fence seventy-five yards away and sing' with apparent nonchalance for five minutes, eventually they would flit across to the sau'e somewhere near the intruder and watch his movements. I was tiring of the rather monotonous beating through the sage when J-- excitedly called to me and told me of a nest and four 'white' egffs on the ground. I went over and looked in under a small sage where the nest was easily seen when you knew it was there! "The nest was sunk flush in the ground, being built partly under a sage root, and contained four eggs with a very perceptible light bluish tinge. Upon blowing one egg was found in- fertile and the others were but slightly incubated. We sat down at a distance but not a sound came from the female, who had flustied and disappeared. After perhaps ten minutes of quiet watching the bird appeared up the hill but was extremely wary. She flew past the bush and alighted, but would not go to the nest. Then she flew up the hill again, when I collected her. Disseciion showed the set to be com- plete. Further search failed to reveal any other nests for the day. "This sparrow has an alarm, quirk, quir/, quir, very similar to the rock wren. It is uttered also as a spontan- eous note at times. The real song has been likened to that of the lazuli bunt- ing but I see little resemblance save in the general trilling style. The sparrow's note is much stronger, a combination of warble and trill which it would be quite useless to attempt to write. It seems to me quite distinct from other bird songs and is uttered indiscriminate- ly either from a perch, from the sage, or when the bird is on the ground." The nest mentioned was substantially built as may be seen from the illustra- tion. It was composed outwardly of grass, grass roots, a few small twigs and fibers. The linina was almost entirely of horsehair. The outside diameter was six inches, the inside three inches. Depth inside, x inches; outside, three inches. The front or exposed rim of the nest was much thicker than the back. The eggs were four in number, possessing a slight bluish tinge both before and after blowing. In this connection it may be interest- ing to mention that the eggs of this sparrow seem to be possessed of two types of coloration some sets being pure white, while others have the bluish tint. Four sets which are known to be in existence show the following colora- tion: Mr. Brewster's set of three eggs, he informs me, are pure white; a set collected by Mr. H. S. Gay in San Bernardino Co. and kindly loaned me for inspection, are pure crystalline white in color; a set collected by Mr. R. H. Beck in Monterey Co., Cal., June 25, I894, is now in the National Museum collection. Dr. Win. L. Ralph informs me that the eggs are "certainly of a light bluish color." The set collected