I40 THE MERRILL SONG SPARROW. 



No. 56. 

 MERRILL'S SONG SPARROW. 



A. O. L'. No. 581 k. Melospiza melodia merrilli ( JJrewsterJ. 



Synonyms. — Dusky Song Spakkcjw. Sil\Hr-TOngue. 



Description. — Characters intermediate between those of ill. in. iiioiitana and 

 M. III. iiiorphiui. In general, darker than precechng with plumage more blended, 

 proportion of gray in back aljout one-third ; lighter than next, not so brown, 

 strcakings more distinct. 



Nesting. — Nest: a substantial structure of twigs, grasses, coiled bark-strips, 

 dead leaves, etc. : lined carefully with fine dead grass, rootlets or horse-hair, placed 

 indifferently in bushes or on the ground. Eggs: 4-6, usually 5, greenish-, grayish-, 

 or bluish-white, heavily spotted and blotched with reddish browns which some- 

 times conceal the background. Av. size .83 x .61 (21x15.5). Season: April- 

 July ; two or three broods. 



General Range. — The eastern slopes of the Cascades from northern Cali- 

 fornia to southern llritisli Ci)lumbia, east (at least) to northern Idaho. 



Range in Washington. — East-side — theoretically inclusive. Specimens from 

 the central valleys of the Cascades may be called iiiovphna and those from the 

 Palouse country uiontana, at pleasure. 



Authorities.— Af. fasciata guttata, Brewster, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, \'1I. 

 1882, 22J, 229. D'. Ss". J. 



Specimens. — P'. 



THIS, the connecting link between uiontana and inorf^lina. is the char- 

 acteristic Song Sparrow of eastern Washington, and abounds along timbered 

 water courses and in all cultivated districts. While closely resembling the 

 Rust\- Song Sparrow of the West-side, it may be distinguished from it by 

 the sharper color pattern of its plumage; and the points of divergence from 

 inontana are maintained with substantial uniformity, at least along the 

 eastern slopes of the Cascades, and in tlie northern tier of counties. 



Altho suljjected to considerable rigors in winter, this si)ecies is partially 

 resident, being largely confined during the cold season to the shelter of tule 

 beds, wild rose thickets, clematis bowers, and the like. Nesting begins about 

 the second week in April and continues with undiminished ardor till July 

 or August. Incubation recjuires twelve days, and the young are ready to 

 fly in as many more, so that a devoted pair is able to raise three and some- 

 times four broods in a season. 



At this rate we should lie overrun with Song Sparrows if there were 

 not so many agencies to hold the species in check. A young Song Sparrow 



