1554 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 3 



markings; "resembles Melospiza melodia maxillaris closely in these 

 respects, but shape of the bill different, more nearly like that in 

 M. m. heermanni." He considered the bill the distinctive feature of 

 mailliardi. Although the bills of mailliardi and maxillaris appear 

 practically identical when viewed from the side, "when viewed 

 dorsally the bill of mailliardi presents a very much narrower outline, 

 there being scarcely any indication of the lateral swellings of the 

 maxilla characterizing the bill of maxillaris * * *. In coloration 

 mailliardi is very much darker than heermanni, having the streaking 

 everywhere broad and black, with edgings of deep bay, the latter 

 color showing dorsally to the almost entire exclusion of ashy margin- 

 ings, there being mere traces of the latter. In coloration, mailliardi 

 differs from maxillaris only in being a trifle less heavily marked on 

 an average * * *." 



Distribution 



Range. — The Modesto song sparrow is resident in the Central 

 Valley of California, from Glenn and Butte counties (Glenn, Biggs) 

 south to Stanislaus County (Modesto, Lagrange); west to the deltas 

 of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. 



Casual record. — Casual in western Nevada (Fallon). 



MELOSPIZA MELODIA HEERMANNI Baird 



Heermann's Song Sparrow 

 Contributed by Val Nolan Jr. 



Habits 



Still another non-migratory song sparrow from California, this 

 race lives between the north-south mountain ranges in the San 

 Joaquin valley. In this arid region the bird adheres closely to 

 stream-, lake-, and marsh-side vegetation at altitudes of from 100 

 feet to 5,000 feet. In 1944 Grinnell and Miller reported that "numbers 

 have greatly increased in the last thirty-five years owing to develop- 

 ment of irrigation systems in previously unoccupied parts of its 

 general range." In an earlier paper (1911) Grinnell had noted the 

 absence of song sparrows in great stretches of dry prairies in the 

 San Joaquin valley and predicted range extensions along canals. 



The breeding habits of heermanni appear to fit the generalized 

 pattern for riparian song sparrows. Grinnell (1911a) describes two 

 nests, at 2% and 4 feet, built in low vegetation in which drift trash 

 had lodged. He also reports finding two females with nests, but 

 only one male, at a reservoir 3 miles distant from any other song 



