========================================================= _Ammospiza maritima_ --------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | 14 males | 3 females | --------------+-------------------+---------------------+ wing (chord) | 64.14 (60-66) | 58.33 (58-59) | tail | 55.28 (54-59) | 51.00 (49-53) | tarsus | 23.00 (22-25) | 22.17 (21-23) | culmen | 15.18 (15-15.5) | 14.50 (13.5-15.0) | --------------------------------------------------------- _Ammospiza caudacuta_ --------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | 33 males | 15 females | --------------+-------------------+---------------------+ wing (chord) | 58.79 (55-61) | 55.67 (54-58) | tail | 49.48 (46-53) | 46.93 (45-50) | tarsus | 20.91 (20-22) | 20.30 (20-21) | culmen | 13.67 (13-14) | 13.23 (12.5-14.0) | --------------+-------------------+---------------------+ In the first 24-hour period after hatching the soft "peep" note is heard frequently. The young are better able to right themselves, and many feather papillae show distinctly through the skin. On the second day young are capable of moving short distances by using their wings and feet. A thick ridge of tissue forms over the eyeball where the eyelids later delaminate. The call is now a double version of the "peep" note described above. When the young are three days old the eyelids open, but only slightly. In the next three days the young become better co-ordinated and the eyes open fully. The egg tooth was last seen on a young bird on the sixth day. All incoming feathers remain sheathed until the seventh day. On the seventh day young show the first signs of cowering. Previously, they all begged when I came to the nest. The remiges remain sheathed, but the body feathers emerge from the tips of the sheaths. A quiet reedy call replaces the "peep" note. A quiet, but squealing distress call was also first noted on the seventh day, when the young were handled. On the eighth day the remigial sheaths become gray (previously they were dark blue) and begin to slough off. When removed from the nest, the young attempt to escape. Begging is less frequent and cowering is the predominant attitude towards intruders. The first young of both species left the nest on the ninth day. It must be remembered, however, that this remark, and succeeding remarks, concerning departure of young from nests pertains to young that were disturbed daily by me. The others climbed to the edge of the nest when they were left alone, but remained in the nest when they were all replaced. Gaping was recorded once on the ninth day. Stuart W. John watched two Sharp-tailed Sparrows on my study area leave a nest. They climbed out and immediately hid in a tussock of grass a few inches behind the nest.