Length: Nearly 7 inches; a little larger than the white-throated sparrow.

Male and Female: Crown white, bordered on each side by a broad black stripe that extends from bill in front of the eye; a broad white stripe borders each black stripe; a narrow line of black borders the white. No yellow on head or wing like that of the white-throated sparrow. Cheeks, neck, throat, and under parts gray; belly white, sides buff; back, wings, and tail brown; back streaked; wings with two white bars.

Song: A sweet whistled strain.

Habitat: Thickets, woods, and fields.

Range: Breeds in Canada, the mountains of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, and thence to the Pacific Coast; winters in the southern half of the United States and in northern Mexico.

The White-crowned Sparrow is considered by some admirers to be the handsomest member of the sparrow tribe. It is not widely known in the East, and is sometimes confused with the white-throat. The gray throat of the white-crown and the absence of yellow on the wing and near the eye, distinguish it from the white-throat.

In Bulletin 513 of the Biological Survey occurs this description of the white-crown: “This beautiful sparrow is much more numerous in the western than in the eastern States, where indeed it is rather rare. In the East it is shy and retiring, but it is much bolder and more conspicuous in the far West and often frequents gardens and parks. Like most of its family it is a seed-eater by preference, and insects comprise very little more than 7 per cent. of its diet. Caterpillars are the largest item, with some beetles, a few ants and wasps, and some bugs, among which are black olive scales. The great bulk of food, however, consists of weed seeds, which amount to 74 per cent. of the whole. In California this bird is accused of eating the buds and blossoms of fruit trees, but buds or blossoms were found in only 30 out of 516 stomachs, and probably it is only under exceptional circumstances that it does any damage in this way. Evidently neither the farmer nor the fruit-grower has much to fear from the white-crowned sparrow. The little fruit it eats is mostly wild, and the grain eaten is waste.”