FRINGILLID.E: FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPARROWS. 



419 



Song Sparrow, reduced. (Sheppard del. 



of rufous and whitish, especially observable below where the streaks contrast with white, 

 and giving tlie impression of heavier streaking than in fall and winter, when, in fresher feather, 

 tlie markings are softer and more sutl'use. 

 The aggregation of spots into a blotch on 

 middle of breast is usual. Bill dark brown, 

 paler below ; feet pale brown. Length 5.90- 

 6.50, usually 6.30 ; extent 8.25-9.25, usually 

 8.50-9.00; wing 2.40-2.75, usually about 

 2.60 ; tail nearer 3.00. 9 averaging near 

 the lesser dimensions, but the species remark- 

 ably constant in size, form, and coloring. 

 Eastern U. S. and Canada ; breeds in nearly 

 all its range, wintering nearly throughout; 

 one of the common winter Sparrows of the 

 Middle States. A very abundant bird every- 

 where in shrubbery and tangle, garden, or- 

 chard, and park, as well as swamp and brake. 

 A hearty, sunny songster, whose quivering 

 liipe is often tuned to the most dreary scenes ; 

 tlie limpid notes being one of the few snatches 

 of bird melody tliat enlivens winter. Nesting 

 various, usually near the ground in bush or 

 grass tuft, or on the ground: eggs 4-6, 0.75- 

 0.85 X 0.55-0.60, greenish or grayish-white, 

 endlessly varied with browns, from reddish to 

 chocolate as surface-markings, and lavender or purplish shell-markings, either speckled, 

 blotched, or clouded; no general effect describable in few words. Two or three broods may be 

 reared. (Jf. fasciata of 2d-4t.h eds. of Key and A. 0. U. Lists to 1899, after Fringilla fasciata 

 Gm. 1788, but this specific name is preoccupied by F. fasciata Mull. 1776 (see Auk, Apr. 

 1899, p. 183). We may therefore gladly revert to the name M. melodia of the orig. ed. of the 

 Key, 1872, after Baird, 1858, from F. melodia WiLS. 1810.) 



M. m. jud'rti. (To E. T. Judd, of Cando, N. Dak.) Dakota Song Sparrow. The least 

 departure from melodia proper, apparently in the direction of the Oregon Song Sparrow. 

 Ground color of upper parts ratlier paler than in melodia, especially the superciliary streak and 

 sides of neck ; interscapulars with broader black centres, narrower reddish-brown portions, and 

 paler gray edgings ; markings of under parts restricted and more sharply defined on a clearer 

 white ground. Length 6.75; wing 2.62; tail 2.78; tarsus 0.81 ; culmen 0.51 ; depth of bill 

 at base 0.31. North Dakota, breeding about Turtle Mt. in June and July. Eggs 0.75 X 0.60, 

 with alleged tendency to a subpyriform figure unusual in those of tnelodia, but indistinguish- 

 able in color. I became familiar with this bird wliile camping on Turtle Mt. in 1873, without 

 suspecting any difference from the common Song Sparrow of tlie East; however the A. 0. U. 

 Committee admitted it to the List at the Cambridge meeting, Nov. 13, 1896. 31. fasciata 

 Jmldi Bishop, Auk, Apr. 1896, )>. 1-32; A. 0. U. List, 8th Suppl. Auk, Jan. 1897, p. 122, 

 No. .581 j. (Included under melodia or fasciata in former eds. of Key.) 



>I. m. fal'lax. (Lat. fallax, fallacious, deceitful : well named.) Gray Song Sparrow. 

 Desert S(»X(t Sparrow. Very similar to both the foregoing; tail rather longer; tone of 

 upper parts paler and grayer ; streaks less obviously blackish in centre and with less rufous; 

 o])solete on rumj). Southern Rocky Mt. region and portions of the Great Basin, in desert 

 })laces ; type specimen from Pueblo Creek, N. M., on Whipjde's route, Jan. 22, 1854; range 

 mainly in New Mexico, Arizona, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah. Zonotrichia fallax 



