NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 391 



A common bird in the lower regions of Arizona, inhabiting the willow thickets 

 and marsh grass near water. Its general habits, nesting and eggs on the whole are 

 said to be indistinguishable from those of M. fasciata; three or four eggs being the 

 usual numbers laid. 



5816. MOtTNTAIir SONG SPABROW. Melospiza faeiata montana Hensh. 

 Geog. Dist. — Rocky Mountain district — Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Eastern Oregon. 



There is no essential difference between the nesting and eggs of this Song Spar- 

 row and those of M. fasciata. 



581c. HEERMANN'S SOKG SPARROW. Melospiza fasciata heermanni 

 (Baird.) G«og. Dist. — California, including the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada 

 Mountains. 



The California Song Sparrow was named in honor of Dr. A. L. Heermann, who 

 first obtained it in the Tejon "Valley. It has been found in California as far north 

 as San Francisco and to the south and southeast to San Diego and the Mohave River. 

 This bird's favorite resorts are on the hillsides, canons and along the banks of 

 streams. The nest is placed in bushes from two to six feet from the ground. Mr. 

 Emerson states that the complement of eggs is generally four. The ground color in 

 the eggs of heermanni is generally more bluish than in those of samurlis and the 

 markings are heavier and of a darker brown and tend to be more confluent at the 

 larger end than in the eggs of the latter. The egg of this species is also much larger, 

 averaging .87x.64 inches. 



581d. SAMUEL'S SONG SPARROW. Melospiga fasciata sa.nuelis (Baird.) 

 Geog. Dist. — Coast regions of California. 



Wherever there are salt marshes along the coast of California, Samuel's Song 

 Sparrow is sure to be found. The bird is especially abundant in the neighborhood 

 of San Francisco. Mr. Emerson informs me that he has found the nest placed on the 

 ground beneath tussocks of grass or in salt weeds and more often in a kind of low 

 shrub that grows on the old sand drifts. Mr. Walter E. Bryant records a nest con- 

 taining three eggs taken by Mr. Emerson from a round oyster can, which had lodged 

 sideways among some driftwood, in a willow tree. A nest before me taken March 

 26, near Haywards, California, is composed of coarse, dry grasses and weed stems 

 externally, the inside and lining being made of finer material of the same. Three 

 or four eggs are deposited by this bird; their color is of a bluish-gray, spotted and 

 blotched pretty generally over the surface with reddish-brown. A set of three eggs 

 collected by Mr. Emerson, May 1, gives the following respective sizes: .79x.63, 

 .75X.59, .83X..59; another, .75x.59, .83x.59, .75x.59 inches. 



581e. RUSTY SONG SPARROW. Melospiza fasciata guttata (Nutt.) Geog. 

 Dist. — Coast region of Washington and Oregon, south in winter to San Francisco, . 

 Cala. 



The Oregon or Rusty Song Sparrow is restricted to the Pacific coast district, 

 breeding from Northern California northward. The eggs are described as being 

 indistinguishable from those of M. fasciata, of the Eastern States, averaging the 

 Fame in size. 



5Slf. SOOTY SONG SPABSIOW. Melospiza fasciata rufina (Bonap.) Geog. 

 Dist. — Coast region of British Columbia, north to Sitka. 



