266 University of California Publications in Zoology. [Vou-5 
Craracters.—Resembles Melospiza melodia gouldii closely in 
coloration and M.m. heermanni in general size; differs from M.m. 
samuelis (topotypes from salt marshes near Petaluma, Sonoma 
County) in having the browns more extended and of a deeper 
tone (bay rather than hazel) and in much greater size and, espe- 
cially, bulkier bill; differs from M.m. gouldii (type) in much 
ereater size throughout; and from Mn. heermann (type and 
topotypes from Tejon Valley, Kern County) in that the base of 
the maxilla is more swollen, the black streakings everywhere 
broader, and the general tone of coloration darker. The type of 
Mm. maxillaris measures: wing, 63.7 mm.; tail, 62; tarsus, 21.8; 
culmen, 12.9; bill from nostril, 9.8; depth of bill, 7.6. 
Rance.—Permanently resident on the extensive marshes at 
the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers; up 
these streams for an unknown distance; west to Benicia on the 
north side of the straits of Carquinez and to Port Costa on the 
south side, but not to the westward of these straits. 
ReEMARKS.—Through the courtesy of the authorities at the 
National Museum, Washington, D. C., I have at hand the type of 
Melospiza melodia heermanni (no. 6227, U. S. Nat. Mnus.). 
Baird’s description of his Melospiza heermanni (Pae. R. R. Rep. 
TX, 1858, p. 478) applies to this specimen so closely as to leave 
no doubt that the name should attach to the form which it repre- 
sents, even if a type had not been designated. This form is an 
inhabitant of the mountain valleys at the southern rim of the 
great San Joaquin Valley, where it is apparently resident. I 
secured breeding topotypes at old Fort Tejon in July, 1904. 
These, in shape of bill and all other characters, are typical of 
Mm. heermanni; allowance must of course be made for the effects 
of wear in judging of color comparisons. Baird’s type is plainly 
an unworn, early winter specimen of the song sparrow resident 
in the region, and not a migrant or winter visitant from the floor 
of the San Joaquin Valley 3000 feet lower in altitude, as some 
ornithologists have assumed. Baird says that the bill of his 
M. heermanni is ‘‘ broader, more convex, and bulging laterally at 
the base’’—this in comparison with the narrow-billed ** Zono- 
trichia guttata’’ (= Melospiza melodia morphna Oberholser ?). 
The same remark would apply in a comparison of M.m. ma.il- 
