Some birds are just hidden treasures waiting to be discovered. Sometimes the treasure hunt will take one to places where treasure seems to a mere phantasm: the stuff of imaginings. And when the treasure is found it is many times by accident. Such is the case of the Black-Throated Sparrow. It is a gem of the desert. In the expanse of the tractless regions where one associates with the rattle snake, lizards, jack rabbits, coyote and other animals suited to the privations of this habitat, one small sparrow is the exception...the jewel of the scrub lands. Where all seems cheerless there will be heard a clear, melodious, complicated song; often in the early morning hours. Atop a bare, leafless bush, denuded of it's foliage by winds that are hot and dry, and Sun, never ending summer Sun, the jewel take it's position and make it's proclamations. And here is the treasure. Not blazing, or brillian, or shimmering, or of hues that defy defining. No, just a simple jewel of pewter and onyx, and umber simplicity. But, that is what makes it a jewel, a treasure.
