FRINGILLID^— THE FINCHES. 285 



family. But tliis Sparrow is so abundant and so familiar in its 

 habits, that it is better known than most others ; it is also very 

 liberal with the supply of music it gives us ; and these facts, taken 

 together, undoubtedly have more to do with its popularity than has 

 the quality of its song. 



Melospiza lincolnii (Aud.) 



LINCOLN'S SPAEKOW. 



Popular synonyms. Lincoln's Finch ; Lincoln's Song Sparrow. 

 Fringilla Uiicolnii AuD. Orn. Biog. ii,1834.539,pl. 193— NuTT. Man. 2d ed. i. 1840.569. 

 Peucaa lincolnii Aud. Synop. 1839, 113; B. Am. iii, 1841, 116, pi. 177. 

 Melospiza lincolnii Baikd.B. N. Am. 1858, 483 ; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859,No. 368.— CouEs.Key, 

 1872, 138; Cheek List, 1873, No. 167; 2d ed. 1882,No. 242; B. N. W. 1874. 135.— B. B. &. K. 

 Hist. N. Am. B. ii, 1874,31, pi. 27.flg. 13.— RiDGW. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 234. 



Hab. Northern North America and higher mountains of western United States, 

 breediug,at high elevations, nearly to the Mexican boundary; thence northward to 

 Alaska (Yukon district) and Labrador, besides various intermediate points; winters in 

 Southern States, Mexico, and Guatemala. (Note. The distribution of this bird corre- 

 sponds very closely, at all seasons, with that of Zonotrichia leacophrys. In the Yukon 

 and McKenzie Biver districts, however, instead of the latter it is associated with the Z. 

 ■intermedia,— otherwise their respective distribution is quite identical.) 



"Sp. Chae. General aspect above, that of M. melodia, but paler and less reddish. 

 Crown dull chestnut, with a median and lateral or superciliary ash-colored stripe; each 

 feather above streaked centrally with black. Back with narrow streaks of black. Be- 

 neath white, with maxillary stripe curving round behind the ear-coverts ; a well-deflned 

 band across the breast, extending down the sides, and the under tail-coverts, of brownish 

 yellow. The maxillary stripe margined above and below with lines of black spots and a 

 dusky line behind the eye. The throat, upper part of breast, and sides of the body, with 

 streaks of black, smallest in the middle of the former. The pectoral bands are some- 

 times paler. Bill above dusky; base of lower jaw and legs yellowish. Length, 5.60; wing, 

 2.60. [Eist.K. Am.B.) 



Instead of being the rare bird that it is commonly supposed to 

 be, Lincoln's Sparrow is at times almost as numerous as the 

 Swamp Sparrow; and the fact that it associates freely with the 

 latter species, which it closely resembles in habits and general 

 appearance, may in a measure account for its supposed scarcity. 

 In the southern portion of the State a greater or less number 

 usually pass the winter in company with M. georgiana, in the dense 

 brushwood and rank dead herbage of swamps and marshes, in the 



