92 University of California Publications in Zoology. [Vol. 7 



the Chickamin River, where it was quite common, and evidently 

 breeding. No nests were found, but a female shot at this point 

 had laid part of its set; the males were observed continually 

 singing from the tops of small trees. 



It is of special interest to note that here the Forbush and 

 song sparrows were about equally abundant, and breeding in 

 precisely the same places — the broad grassy meadows bordering 

 the stream — furnishing an instance of two species of a genus 

 occupying exactly the same area during the breeding season. 

 This is of interest as an apparent exception to what seems to 

 be a very general rule to the contrary among vertebrates, and 

 one that holds in regard to these species in other parts of their 

 range, as in most of our record stations in southeastern Alaska. 

 While elsewhere in this general region the song sparrows are 

 found on or near the beach, the Forbush sparrow occurs in the 

 grassy meadows or swamps, usually some distance from tide- 

 water, and never along the shore. 



The song sparrow {Melospiza melodia) with its various sub- 

 species, and the Lincoln sparrow with its two races, Melospiza 

 lincolni Ihicolni and M. I. gracilis, are found over nearly all 

 parts of North America, the former in the Sonoran Zone over 

 most of its range, the latter in the Canadian and Hudsonian. The 

 mild climate of the northwestern Pacific Coast region has 

 enabled the song sparrow to extend farther north here than else- 

 where, and the ranges of the two species have thus overlapped. 

 Even, here, however, local oonditions keep them slightly sep- 

 arated for the most part, and of the places visited by us it was 

 only in this one river valley that environmental conditions 

 seemed to be favorable to both species. The song sparrow is 

 apparently the most recent arrival, as in other seemingly very 

 similar places it was either very rare or entirely absent, while the 

 Forbush sparrow was found in all such meadows. 



At Portage Cove, ReVillagigedo Island, it was quite common 

 in the boggy meadows. A nest was found built on the ground, 

 and well concealed under a bunch of drooping dead grass, which 

 gave it almost the appearance of a domed structure. In the 

 morning of July 1 it contained five young birds, which had all 

 left before night. 



