176 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol.12 



Melospiza lincolni lincolni (Audubon) 

 Lincoln Sparrow 



First observed February 26 at Mellen; this is not indicative, how- 

 ever, that the species had not been present all winter in suitable 

 places. Indeed, it seems quite probable that at least a portion of 

 those individuals encountered later had wintered in the Colorado 

 Valley. Very common the first week in March on both sides of the 

 river in' the vicinity of The Needles; also in lower Chemehuevis Valley 

 and above Bill Williams River up to March 15; then, in reduced num- 

 bers, at Riverside Mountain and Ehrenberg, at the latter point up to 

 March 29. Finally one was taken opposite Cibola April 5, and the 

 last for the season April 7, ten miles below Cibola. At all these points 

 the Lincoln sparrows were confined to the riparian belt, where they 

 affected brush and nearby grass patches, especially at the outer margin 

 of the arrowweed association. They were usually found in close com- 

 pany with song sparrows, though not in the least gregarious; in fact, 

 many were shot by mistake as flushed singly from low herbage, during 

 our pursuit of song sparrows. 



Among the twenty-seven specimens (nos. 13297-13323) consti- 

 tuting the series of Lincoln sparrows preserved, much variation is 

 displayed. Most of the specimens are quite typical of Melospiza lin- 

 colni lincolni as breeding in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains; 

 but several (six in particular, nos. 13301, 13304, 13311, 13313, 13320, 

 13322) vary strongly in the direction of Melospiza lincolni gracilis 

 (=3/. 1. striata of the A. 0. U. Check-List, 1910, p. 276). The peculi- 

 arities of these lie in the slightly smaller bill, shorter wing and broader 

 black streaking, especially on the dorsum. None, however, are quite 

 like extreme gracilis, and this fact, together with the presence in the 

 series of various intermediates, would seem to indicate that the Colo- 

 rado specimens did not any of them hail from breeding stations in the 

 coast belt proper (Sitkan district) but perhaps from an interlying 

 area towards the interior. This is the more probable, too, in consid- 

 eration of the fact that in no case was any strictly humid coast belt 

 subspecies found wintering in the Colorado Valley. Possibly the Lin- 

 coln sparrows breeding in the northern Rocky Mountain region are 

 subject to greater variation especially towards darkening, and so 

 the dark (and incidentally smaller) Colorado Valley examples may 

 not be essentially gracilis. Material is lacking to demonstrate their 

 status satisfactorily. 



