YELLOWHEAD OR RILEY SONG SPARROW 1527 



Fall and winter. — Some birds are found in fall above the breeding 

 altitude, e.g., at 10,000 feet in Park County, Colorado (Warren, 1915). 

 Those that remain in the breeding range through the winter ap- 

 parently survive by staying close to the moderating influences of 

 water, including warm springs where these occur. Rockwell and 

 Wetmore (1914) found this race common in the mountains along Clear 

 Creek near Golden, Colo., on Nov. 14 "though there was six inches of 

 snow and the bushes were veritable snow banks." Stanley G. Jewett 

 (1912) has written of seeing several M. m. montana that in December 

 frequented the warm spring flats of the Wood River in Idaho and 

 obtained insects from the muddy ground. The birds were "often 

 seen feeding in the shallow water, while on all sides the snow was 

 piled four feet deep." Birds that migrate to southeastern California 

 inhabit "thickets of arrowweed, and willows and reeds at the edges of 

 ditches and river courses. The birds forage short distances out into 

 grassy or weedy places and about root tangles and piles of driftwood" 

 (Grinnell and Miller, 1944). 



Distribution 



Range. — Northeastern Oregon and north-central Montana to 

 southeastern California, northern Sonora, central Chihuahua, and 

 western Texas. 



Breeding range. — The mountain song sparrow breeds from north- 

 eastern Oregon (Union and Wallowa counties), central western Idaho 

 (New Meadows), and north-central Montana (Missoula and Teton 

 counties, intergrades with M. m. merrilli) south to eastern Nevada 

 (Toiyabe Mountains, Lehman Creek), southwestern Utah (Pine 

 Valley Mountains, Kanab), central eastern Arizona (White Mountains), 

 and northern New Mexico (Santa Fe, Raton). 



Winter range. — Winters throughout the breeding range and south 

 to southeastern California (Death Valley, Riverside Mountain), 

 northern Sonora (Caborca, headwaters of Bavispe River), central 

 Chihuahua (Chihuahua), and western Texas (Fort Davis, Ingram); 

 east casually to western Nebraska (Crawford), western Kansas 

 (Trego County), and western Oklahoma (Cimarron County). 



MELOSPIZA MELODIA INEXPECTATA Riley 



Yellowhead or Riley Song Sparrow 



Contributed by Val Nolan Jr. 



Habits 



Although M. m. inexpectata occurs as a breeding bird on the coast 

 and inner islands of the southeastern extension of Alaska, the range of 



