2/1. Grinnell AND Daggett, Birds of Coro7tados Islaiids. Fjan 



above the base of the ledge and overhung by a projecting slab, was a 

 linnet's nest containing small young. The nest consisted of drj' remains 

 of ice-plant amassed to fit the cavitj, while the cup-shaped depression was 

 lined with gull feathers. The three joung were only about one-third 

 grown, though possessed of lustj voices which served to indicate their 

 whereabouts. On the same island was a flock of linnets composed mostly 

 of full-grown juvenals. The specimens secured agree in differing decided!}' 

 from the mainland form. They seem to be identical with the San Cle- 

 mente Island form, for they possess the bulky bill and heavy brown 

 streaking characteristic of clet!ie7ifis. An adult male taken on Middle 

 Island (No. 5236, Coll. J. G.) has the bill as large as the largest in an 

 extensi^•e series from the Santa Barbara Islands. 



21. Melospiza coronatorum. Coroxados Song Sparrow. — We found 

 Song Sparrows on all of the three islands visited. On South Island 

 juvenals were seen along the path which leads back from the ' hotel ' at 

 the cove. On the Middle Island, where we found the petrel colony, an 

 old and weather-beaten nest was found under a bush. This contained a 

 faded but still identifiable egg-shell with contents dried. On North 

 Island Song Sparrows -w'ere fairly common, and here on August 7, we 

 obtained twelve specimens. As we landed, an individual was fearlessly 

 hopping close at hand among the boulders almost at the edge of the surf. 

 Most of the Song Sparrows, however, were seen higher up toward the 

 crest of the island, where thej' were haunting the sparse growth of shrubs 

 on the shaded northeast slope. We saw no trace of fresh water anywhere, 

 and the scanty vegetation presented anything but an inviting appearance. 

 Yet here we heard the familiar notes and full song of these birds which 

 on the mainland keep so close»to verdant water courses and damp low- 

 lands. The Rock Wren, always a bird of the dryest localities, did not 

 seem out of place, but the Song Sparrow seemed altogether foreign to 

 such surroundings. Strange that the latter should accommodate itself to a 

 desert place like this, while truly dry-land birds like Amphispiza, Aimo- 

 phila, and Pipilo are absent altogether. Nevertheless here were the 

 plastic Song Sparrows, and our specimens show that this colony, isolated, 

 for we wish we knew how many decades, has not remained indifferent to 

 its unique environment. Certain constant characters are presented which, 

 though doubtless considered by some as 'trivial,' seem to us significant, 

 and therefore entitle the form to a distinctive name. 



Melospiza coronatorum, new species. 



Spec. Char. — Most nearly resembling in coloration Melospiza cle- 

 mentcE, and general size about the same, but tarsus decidedly shorter and 

 bill smaller ; differs from Melospiza cinerea cooferi of the adjacent main- 

 land in much paler ground color, narrower streaking and smaller bill. 



Type. — $ adult. No. 5232 Coll. J. G.; Los Coronados Islands (North 

 Island), Lower California ; August 7. 1902. 



