SAN DIEGO SONG SPARROW 1555 



sparrow habitat. Among other possibilities was that of polygyny 

 attributable to the surplus of females. 



The measurements of 20 eggs average 20.4 by 15.4 millimeters; the 

 eggs showing the 4 extremes measure 23.1 by 17.2 and 19.6 by 12.8 

 millimeters. 



The food habits of heermanni are among those Beal (1910) 

 investigated and reported in the life history of M. m. samuelis and 

 the other salt marsh song sparrows. 



Ridgway (1901) describes heermanni as being similar to melodia 

 "but smaller and coloration much darker and browner, the black 

 streaks on back, etc., averaging broader, and streaks on chest, etc., 

 darker (black or brownish black in summer) ; young similar to that 

 of * * * melodia but deeper tawny brown above with black streaks 

 on back broader, the under parts more or less tinged with brownish 

 buff, especially on chest, where the dusky streaks are broader." 

 Grinnell (1911a) states that heermanni has a "much paler 'ground 

 color' * * *, narrower black-streaking both above and below and * * * 

 slightly smaller bill" than mailliardi. 



Distribution 



Range. — Heermann's song sparrow is resident in the southern San 

 Joaquin Valley of California, from Merced and Mariposa counties 

 (Los Bafios, Yosemite Valley) south to Kern Count}? - (Fort Tejon, 

 Walker Basin); east to Kings Canyon (Zumwalt Meadow). 



MELOSPIZA MELODIA COOPERI Ridgway 



San Diego Song Sparrow 

 Contributed by Val Nolan Jr. 



Habits 



Melospiza melodia cooperi is a resident race in southern California 

 and northern Baja California in the valleys of the coast ranges and 

 on the Pacific slopes; it extends eastward to streams penetrating the 

 Mojave and Colorado deserts. Its habitat is river bottom vegetation, 

 fresh water marshes, "at least margins of salt marshes" (Grinnell and 

 Miller, 1944), and garden shrubbery. Settlement of the coastal 

 plain, with a consequent development of water systems, has contrib- 

 uted to an increase in numbers in relatively recent times. Breeding 

 occurs from sea level to altitudes of 5,000 feet, and vagrants have 

 been collected in late summer at 7,500 feet. Nests found in pampas 

 grass (Myers, 1910) and 10 inches high in a dock plant (Chambers, 

 1917) have been described. 



