FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 
359 
and below blackish and narrower, contrasting more sharply with the 
ground color; about the size of samuelis , but with shorter tail and larger 
feet. Young: like those of montana, with grayish instead of brownish 
ground color. Male: length (skins) 5.18-5.46, wing 2.29-2.41, tail 2.11- 
2.31, bill .47-.49. Female: length (skins) 5.30-5.48, wing 2.30-2.37, tail 
2.19-2.31, bill .46-47. 
Distribution. — Santa Barbara Islands, and, in winter, adjacent mainland 
of California. 
58 li. M. m. clement® (Towns.). San Clemente Song Sparrow. 
Similar in color and markings to graminea, but much larger, the bill 
longer. Male: length (skins) 5.70-6.18, wing 2.45-2.60, tail 2.35-2.64, 
bill .47-.49. Female: length (skins) 5.44-5.81, wing 2.40-2.50, tail 2.39- 
2.50, bill .45-.50. 
Distribution. —San Clemente, San Miguel, and Santa Rosa Islands, Cali¬ 
fornia ; and Coronados Islands, Lower California. 
581k. M. m. merrilli ( Brewst .). Merrill Song Sparrow. 
Similar to morphna , but with smaller bill and ground color of upper 
parts lighter and more ashy; dark markings — especially on back — 
blacker and more sharply defined; the white of under parts clearer and 
more extended. Male: length (skins) 5.65-6.40, wing 2.56-2.75, tail 2.51- 
2.83, bill .45-.51. Female: length (skins) 5.48-6.21, wing 2.50-2.68, tail 
2.40-2.76* bill .44-.50. 
Remarks. — Merrilli is like montana , but slightly darker and more uni¬ 
form above, the gray and brown of interscapulars less strongly contrasted. 
Distribution. — Breeds from Fort Sberman, Idaho, south through Oregon 
and Washington east of Cascades to northern California; migrates to 
Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and northern Sonora. 
583. Melospiza lincolnii (Aud.). Lincoln Sparrow. 
Adults. — Upper parts dark brown and olive, finely and sharply streaked 
with black ; crown with light median stripe ; malar 
region, chest, and sides buffy ; sides and broad buffy 
chest band narrowly streaked with black. Young: 
colors more suffused and streaks less sharply de- Fig. 448. 
fined. Male: length (skins) 4.88-5.76, wing 2.26- 
2.62, tail 2.07-2.44, bill .41-.47. Female: length (skins) 4.54-5.43, wing, 
2.15-2.45, tail 2.01-2.34, bill .38-.46. 
Distribution. —Breeds in Boreal zone of North America from Fort 
Yukon east to York Factory, Hudson Bay, and south to the higher parts 
of the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada; winters from southern United 
States to Panama. 
Nest. — On the ground, made of grass. Eggs : as described by Davie, 
light greenish white, heavily marked, chiefly around larger end, with 
chestnut and lavender gray. 
Food. — Mainly insects and grass and weed seed. 
The Lincoln sparrow might be mistaken for a song sparrow but for 
his buffy chest band, finely penciled breast, and wholly individual, 
vibrant song. 
Willows in mountain meadows attract him, and when you sur¬ 
prise him on a willow stalk with his bill full of insects for his brood, 
