24 NOiail AMERICAN UIKDS. 



precision of style and methud of nttemnce are quite distinct and constant 

 peculiarities. The sonu', tliouj^h as i)lea.sing, is not so loud as that of the 

 eastern Soui,' Sparrow, wliile llie measure is very ditlerent. He noted tlie 

 syllahles of its son.;, and found tlieni ([uite uniform. He expresses the S(»n«,' 

 thus: CJia-ilK(-rha-cha-<l(u - (cit' -tnr'-r-r-r-r-r - tnt. Thi' tirst six syllables as 

 to accent are exactly alike, but with a consideral)le interval or pause between 

 the tirst and second notes. The second to the fifth tVtUow in ra}>id succes- 

 sion, each beiuLj uttered with deliberation and distinctness. Then comes a 

 pause between the last " cha " and the " wit," which is i>ronounce<l in a line 

 metallic tone with a rising inllection, then another pause, and a liquid trill 

 witli a falling inllection, the whole terminating abruptly with a very peculiar 

 " tut," in an entirely diffeient key from the other notes. 



The nests and eims were found in the Wahsatch Mountains, June 23. 

 The nests were generally among bushes, in willow thickets, along the streams, 

 about a foot from the ground. One of these nests found in a clum}) of 

 willows, about two feet from the ground and near a stream, is a compact, 

 finnly built nest, in the shape of an inverted dome. It is two and a half 

 inches in height, and about the same in diameter. Externally it is com- 

 posed of a coarse framework of strips of willow bark firmly bound around. 

 Within is a compactly woven inner nest, com})osed of stixiws, mingled 

 and interwoven with horse-hairs. The cavity has a depth and diameter of 

 two inches. The Cij:''s, four in number, measure .85 bv .03 of an inch. Their 

 form is a rounded oval, distinctly pointed at one end. They have a greenish- 

 white ground, marked and blotched with splashes of purplish and reddish 



! brown. 



Melospiza melodia, var. heermanni, Baird. 



! HEEBMANN'S SONG SFABBOW. 



Mdof^piza Joermdniii, H.vinn, Birds X. Am, 1858, 478, pi, 70, f. 1. — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 

 212. 



Sp. Cjiar. Somowhat like inehdia, but <lark<'r. Tlie streaks on the back and under 



,, parts blacker, broader, more distinet, and seareely niaririned with reddish, except in 



{| winter plumage. The median striite on vertex indistinct. General shade of coloration 



olivaceous-gray rather tlian rusty. Length, 0.40; wing, 2.56; tail, 3. Bill and legs in 

 i size and color most like melodia. 



M II.VB. Southern California; eastern slope of Sierra Nevada (Carson City), and West 



I Humboldt Mountains, Nev. ; Riogway. 



j Of the various races of 3f. melodia. tliis one approaches nearest the 



|] ty])ical style of the Atlantic region; agreeing with it in thicker Inll and 



j shorter tail, as compared with the var. fallax, which occurs between them. 



I It differs from the var. melodia, however, in a more grayish cast to the 



i ground-color of the upjjer ])lumage, being olivaceous-gray, rather than 



• reddish ; the black dorsal streaks are very much broader than the rusty ones, 



