THE BIRD BOOK 
581. Song Sparrow. Melospiza melodia 
melodia. 
Range. — North America, east of the Plains, 
breeding from Virginia to Manitoba and New 
Brunswick, and wintering chiefly in the south- 
ern half of the United States. 
A favorite and one of the 
most abundant in all sections 
of the east. They are sweet 
and persistent songsters and 
frequent side hills, pastures, 
roadsides, gardens and door- 
yards if English Sparrows be 
not present. They nest indif- 
ferently upon the ground or in bushes, gener- 
ally artfully concealing the nest by drooping 
leaves; it is made of grass and weed stems, 
lined with fine grass or, occasionally, horse 
hair. As is usual in the case of birds that 
abound about habitations they frequently 
choose odd nesting sites. They lay two and 
sometimes three sets of eggs a season, from May to August, the eggs being 
three to five in number and white or greenish white, marked, spotted, blotched 
or splashed in endless variety of pattern and intensity, with many shades of 
brown; some eggs are very heavily blotched so as to wholly obscure the ground 
color while others are specked very sparingly. They measure .80 x .60 with 
great variations. 
581a. Desert Song Sparrow. Melospiza melodia fallax. 
Range. — Desert regions of southern Nevada, Arizona and southeastern Cali- 
fornia. The eggs of this very pale form are the same as those of the last. 
581b. Mountain Song Sparrow. Melospiza melodia montana. 
Range. — Rockies and the Great Basin from Oregon and Montana southward. 
This variety is paler than the Song Sparrow but darkei 
the same. 
581c. H eerman’s Song Sparrow. Melospiza melo- 
dia heermanni. 
Range. — California, west of the Sierra Nevadas. 
Similar to melodia but with less brown and the markings 
blacker and more distinct. The nesting habits are the same 
and the eggs similar to large dark specimens of the eastern 
Song Sparrow. Size .85 x .62. 
58 id. Samuels Song Sparrow. Melospiza melodia 
samuelis. 
Range.- — Coast regions of California, chiefly in the 
marshes. 
Similar to the last but smaller. They nest on the ground 
in marsh grass, usually in sandy districts along the shore. 
The eggs average smaller than those of melodia. Size 
.78 x .58. 
581e. Rusty Song Sparrow. Melospiza melodia 
morphna. 
Range. — Pacific coast of Oregon and British Columbia. 
A dark species with the upper parts dark reddish brown 
and heavily streaked with the same below. The nesting 
habits and eggs are like those of melodia. 
354 
White 
Song Sparrow 
