THE BIRD BOOK 



581. 



Song Sparrow. 

 melodia. 



Melospiza melodia 



White 



Range. — North America, east of the Plains, 

 breeding from Virginia to Manitoba and New 

 Brunswick, and wintering chiefly in the south- 

 ern half of the United States. 

 A favorite and one of the 

 most abundant in all sections 

 of the east. They are sweet 

 and persistent songsters and 

 frequent side hills, pastures, 

 roadsides, gardens and door- 

 yards if English Sparrows be 

 not present. They nest indif- 

 ferently upon the ground or in bushes, gener- 

 ally artfully concealing the nest by drooping 

 leaves; it is made of grass and weed stems, 

 lined with fine grass or, occasionally, horse 

 hair. As is usual in the case of birds that 

 abound about habitations they frequently 

 Song- Sparrow choose odd nesting sites. They lay two and 



sometimes three sets of eggs a season, from May to August, the eggs being 

 three to five in number and white or greenish white, marked, spotted, blotched 

 or splashed in endless variety of pattern and intensity, with many shades of 

 brown ; some eggs are very heavily blotched so as to wholly obscure the ground 

 color while others are specked very sparingly. They measure .80 x .60 with 

 great variations. 

 581a. Desert Song Sparrow. Melospiza melodia fallax. 



Range. — Desert regions of southern Nevada, Arizona and southeastern Cali- 

 fornia. The eggs of this very pale form are the same as those of the last. 

 581b. Mountain Song Sparrow. Melospiza melodia montana. 



Range. — Rockies and the Great Basin from Oregon and Montana southward. 

 This variety is paler than the Song Sparrow but darker than fallax. Eg 

 the same. 



581c. Heerman's Song Sparrow. Melospiza melo- 

 dia heermanni. 



Range. — California, west of the Sierra Nevadas. 



Similar to melodia but with less brown and the markings 

 blacker and more distinct. The nesting habits are the same 

 and the eggs similar to large dark specimens of the eastern 

 Song Sparrow. Size .85 x .62. 



58 Id. Samuels Song Sparrow. Melospiza melodia 

 samuelis. 



Range. — Coast regions of California, chiefly in the 

 marshes. 



Similar to the last but smaller. They nest on the ground 

 in marsh grass, usually in sandy districts along the shore. 

 The eggs average smaller than those of melodia. Size 

 .78 x .58. 



58 le. Rusty Song Sparrow. Melospiza melodia 

 morphna. 

 Range. — Pacific coast of Oregon and British Columbia. 

 A dark species with the upper parts dark reddish brown 

 and heavily streaked with the same below. The nesting 

 habits and eggs are like those of melodia. 



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