1909] Grinnell —Three New California Song Sparrows. 269 
RaneGe.—Permanently resident in suitable localities around 
Salton Sea, and along the lower Colorado River, at least at Yuma, 
The Needles, and Fort Mohave. (I have not at present the mate- 
rial to warrant discussing the status of the breeding song spar- 
rows of central Arizona.) 
RemaArKs.—The type of Baird’s Melospiza fallax (no. 10281, 
U.S. Nat. Mus.) has been forwarded to me by the authorities at 
the National Museum. This proves to represent, not the Colorado 
Desert form, as I had been previously led to believe, but a migra- 
tory song sparrow, probably breeding in some part of the elevated 
Great Basin tract to the northward. JMJ.m. fallax is much nearer 
to M.m. montana than to M.m. saltonis, as shown by its ashy col- 
oration, larger sizerand, especially, proportions. I have seen no 
breeding examples of M.m. fallax as here restricted, all speci- 
mens at hand beine winter birds undoubtedly out of their breed- 
ing range, as was also the type, from ‘‘Pueblo Cr., N. M.”’ 
(= Arizona). I have typical examples of M.m. fallax from Vie- 
torville, on the Mohave Desert (December), and Clipper Gap, 
Placer County, California (collected by E. Adams in February). 
Baird’s description of Melospiza fallax (Pae. R. R. Rep. IX, 
1858, p. 481) without question applies to the type; it was drawn 
up in comparison with Welospiza melodia. Even though Hen- 
shaw’s subsequent action in restricting the name fallax to the 
breeding song sparrow of Arizona (Auk I, July, 1884, p. 224) 
seems open to question, there is good ground for recognizing the 
M.m. montana of Henshaw as well as the M.m. fallax of Baird. 
The song sparrow problem is still far from worked out; and 
the practice of “‘lumping’’ forms only retards a more satisfactory 
solution. 
