FRINGILLID^ — THE FINCHES. 27 



The above description is of a specimen in worn summer plumage, when 

 the markings have not the sharp definition seen in the autumnal plumage. 

 The autumnal plumage is as follows : Ground-color above grayish-olive, 

 outer surface of wings, with the crown, more rufous ; crown with narrow, 

 and dorsal region with broad, stripes of black, the latter witli scarcely a 

 perceptible rufous suffusion ; crown with a distinct median stripe of ashy. 

 Streaks on jugulum, etc., broader than in the type, and with a slight rufous 

 suffusion. Wing, 2.20 ; tail, 2.35 ; bill from nostril .31, its depth .22 ; 

 tarsus .74 ; middle toe without claw, .60. 



The type of Melosjnza goiddi resembles the last, and differs only in having 

 a more distinct rufous suffusion to the black markings ; the measurements 

 are as follows : Wing, 2.20; tail, 2.35 ; bill, .33 by .23 ; tarsus, .73 ; middle 

 toe without claw, .59. 



This is probably a dwarfed race of the common species, the very small 

 size being its chief distinctive character. The colors are most nearly like 

 those of heermanni, but are considerably darker, caused by an expansion of 

 the black and contraction of the rufous markings. Tlie pattern of colora- 

 tion is precisely the same as in the other races. The present bird appears 

 to be peculiar to the coast region of California, the only specimens in the 

 collection being from the neighborhood of San Francisco. 



Habits. Of the history, distribution, and general habits of this species, 

 nothing is known. It was found at Petaluma, Cal., by Emanuel Samuels, 

 and described in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History in 

 1858. The following description of the nest and eggs of this bird, in the 

 Smithsonian collection, has been kindly furnished me by Mr. Eidgway. 



Nests elaborate and symmetrical, cup-shaped, composed of thin grass- 

 stems, but externally chiefly of grass-blades and strips of thin inner bark. 

 Diameter about 3.50 inches ; internal diameter 2.00, and internal depth 1.50 ; 

 external, 2.00. Egg measures .78 by .62 ; regidarly ovate in shape ; ground- 

 color, greenish-white ; this is thickly sprinkled with purplish and livid ashy- 

 brown, the specks larger, and somewhat coalescent, around the larger circum- 

 ference. (3553, San Francisco, Cal., J. Hepburn.) 



Melospiza melodia, var. guttata, Baird. 



OREGON SONG SPARROW. 



Fringilla cinerea, (Gm.) Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 22, pi. cccxc. — Ib. Syn. 1839, 119. — 

 Ib. Birds Am. HI, 1841, 145, pi. clxxxvii. Passerella cinerea, Bp. List, 1839. — Ib. 

 Conspectus, 1850, 477. Fringilla {Passerella) guttata, Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 

 581. Zonotrichia guttata, Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. I, Dec. 1847, 50. Melospiza rufina, 

 Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 480. — Cooper k Suckley, 204. — Dall & Bannister, 

 Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1859, 285. — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 214. 



Sp. Char. Bill slender. Similar in general appearance to M. melodia^ but darker and 

 much more rufous, and without any blackish-brown streaks, or grayish edges of the 



