244 LAND BIRDS 



the same ; placed on the ground beneath tufts of grass, in salt weeds, 

 or low shrubs on the sand drifts. 

 Eggs : 3 or 4 ; bluish gray, spotted and blotched over the entire surface 

 with reddish brown. Size 0.75 X 0.59. 



581 e. RUSTY SONG SPARROW. — Melospiza melodia 

 morphna. 



Family : The Finches, Sparrows, etc. 



Length: 6.00-7.00. 



Adults : Upper parts rusty brown, almost obscuring the black streaks ; 

 chest with heavy dark brown markings ; flanks greenish olive. 



Young : Upper parts dark brown, back streaked with blackish ; under 

 parts buffy grayish ; chest and sides light brown, streaked with 

 darker brown. 



Geographical Distribution : Pacific coast district, Washington, Oregon, 

 and Alaska ; south in winter to Southern California. 



Breeding Range : Pacific coast region, from Northern California north- 

 ward through Washington and Oregon. 



Breeding Season : May and June. 



Nest and Eggs : Very similar to those of the desert sparrow. 



583. LINCOLN SPARROW.— Melospiza lincolni. 



Family : The Finches, Sparrows, etc. 



Length: 5.25-6.00. 



Adults: Upper parts dark brown and olive, sharply streaked with 



black ; crown sharply streaked with black and divided by a median 



grayish line ; malar stripe, chest, and sides buffy ; sides and chest 



narrowly streaked with black. 

 Young : Similar to adults, but colors and streaks less sharply defined. 

 Geographical Distribution: Whole of North America south of Hudson 



Bay region. 

 California Breeding Range : Breeds sparingly along the high Sierra 



Nevada from Mt. Shasta south to near Mt. Whitney. 

 Breeding Season : June and July. 

 Nest : Of grasses ; placed on the ground. 

 Eggs : 3 ; light greenish white, heavily marked with chestnut and 



lavender gray, chiefly at the larger end. Size 0.79 X 0.58. 



A shy bird, skulking through the tangle of grass and 

 bushes in the swampy borders of a marsh, is the Lin- 



