no 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XIII 
Western Savannah vSparrow (Passerculus sandiL'ichensis alaudinus) . Still present at Earli- 
inart, Tulare County, up to May 4. This to iny mind constitutes late tarrying of winter visitants, 
and in no wise indicates a breeding station. The behavior of the birds at no time was such as to 
lead one to suspect nesting; and a specimen shot on April 30 was just completing a partial pre- 
nuptial molt, being in the conseepient plumage a duplicate of Alaskan specimens. It woxild ap- 
pear quite unsafe to base breeding records of any of these migratory sparrows upon anything 
short of actual discovery of nests and eggs or small young. 
Intermediate Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambeli). Observed at various points all 
through April. AtEarlimart, Tulare County, several were noted on the 30th. One was shot on 
IMay 1, and none were noted thereafter, thus establishing a date of departure for this season and 
place. 
Nuttall vSparrow {Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli). A number of this form were noted in 
mixed flocks of sparrows in rose thickets along levees five miles northeast of Tracy, San Joaqiiin 
County, March 11. Two specimens shot were preserved, and comparison in the Museum shows 
them to be umiuestionably of this race, thus establishing an eastward extension of the known 
winter range of Z. 1. nuttalli. 
Ileermann .Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia heermanni) . During the travels of myself and 
assistants, we kept a constant lookout for song sparrows. The result was that contrarj' to previous 
notions large parts of the San Joaquin Valley were foinid to be absolutely wdthout any represen- 
tative of the genus. Neither in the vicinity of Tracy, Los llanos, or Ra3-niond could song 
sparrows be found. A few were noted in the neighborhood of Fresno; and on the Fresno County 
siile of the San Joaqnin River near Lane Bridge (ten miles north of the citj' of Fresno) four 
specimens were secured. Mr. John G. Tyler, of Fresno, who was with me at this point, helped 
me to secure these and also contributed a nest with four slightly incubated eggs which he found 
in the river bottom close to our camp on April 7. Another nest with three fresh eggs was found 
on the 8th. In each instance the nest was located in low vegetation, against which drift-trash 
had lodged; in one case the nest was 2'/z feet above the ground, in the other four feet. 
Song sparrows were found again onlj- at Earlimart, Tnlare Coxintj-, where a male and two 
females were taken April 30 and Ma}' 2. These were the onlj' individuals observed at this place, 
and were inhabiting a willow-margined reservoir. 
The seven song sparrows secxired, as just specified, are as uniform as usxial, considering 
the normal range in individual variation; and they are verj- nearlj' duplicates of topotj'pes of 
31. m. heer)nanni from Fort Tejon, Kern Countj'. The known range of heerjuanni, as latelj' 
restricted (see Grinnell, Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. V, April 1909, p. 266), is thus extended north to 
include parts of the Tulare basin. Heermafirii is distinct from 31. m. maillairdi (Univ. Calif. 
Publ. Zool. YII, F'ebrxiary, 1911, p. 197). The differences lie in the much paler “ground color’’ 
dorsally of heermanni^ the narrower black-streaking both above and below and in the slightlj’ 
smaller bill. 
There is still a great stretch of conn trj'— between Fresno and Modesto — from which we have 
no IMelospizine returns. There may be an actual hiatus between the ranges of heermanni 
and mailliardi. For, as our San Joaquin work has demonstrated, it is a grave mistake to as- 
sume that song sparrows range xmiformly all over the beil of the Valley and up into the foothills. 
Rather are there only narrow belts of occupied ground, coinciding with sections of riparian 
strips. Vast areas of dry prairie intervene, unsuited to this bird. However, a circumstance 
accompanjdng human invasion will tend to obliterate these original conditions: Song sparrows 
were seen in the Fresno district along irrigation canals. These canals thus serve to divert a 
stream of riparian plants and animals, including the song sparrow, onj over the plains between 
the rivers, by which process the fauna of the originally arid levels becomes metamorphosed. The 
ranges of the song sparrows of interior California may thus be expected to shift to a consider- 
able extent from what thej' were or even are at the present stage of events. 
An incident of interest thongh not of definite significance was that at the Earlimart reser- 
voir referred to above there were two females, each -with a nest, but onlj' one male, at least at 
the time of my arrival, April 30. (.)ne of the females, shot together with the male on that date, 
contained very large ova (one egg would have been laid probably the next day), and her nest 
was apparently completed. The other female was taken on IMaj' 2 together witli her nest and 
fonr fresh, or infertile, eggs. This bird was incubating, as the subdermal layer in the abdominal 
region was glandular to an extreme degree. This state of affairs (one male, and two females 
with nests) might be accounted for b}^ any one of three explanations: (1) that there ivas another 
male at the re.servoir, but destroyed bj’ some means before nij’ arrival; (2) that an excess female 
without a mate had gone ahead and built a nest and proihiceil infertile eggs; or (3) that where 
there were more females than males, polygamj- had occurred and the male had mated with two 
