Marshall, 1941 Melospiza melodia Martinez, Contra Costa Co., Calif. Jan. 20. a large one running west from the town for abut a mile. Separated from the hills by S.P. tracks. At the mouth of a little valley 4 mi. W town a good riparian habitat comes down to the traks. Many ss. An excellent place to study intergradation. The salt marsh here is about 60 yards wide with lots of song sparrows singing, calling, chasing each other, twittering. Heard 3 or 4 Lincoln sparrows, several rails, saw 6 marsh wrens. Chattin and I coll. 8 ss. from the salt marsh which consists of tules and cattails and openings of bermuda grass and some salicorn ia. Another little canyon just west of this also brings the upland habitat to the edge of the marsh. The first canyon mouth has a front of willows, vines, and shrubbery about 40 yards, separated from the marsh only by the tracks. Farther up the canyon we saw a horned owl fly up to a Eucalyptus (before sunset) Perched on bare stub 30 feet up. S.S. and other birds gave alarm notes. After collecting the song sparrows, which squeeked up easily, it was dark, andwe returned to Berkeley, via Franklin Canyon. Flushed a snipe at the edge o f the willow thickets at the lake in Canada del Cierbo. It gave the rough c y. Seen ret again 5 min later as flew back over the willows and called once m more. -Cold, cloudy, and windy. Specimens: 1170 - 1185. Sobrante, Contra Costa Co., Calif. Jan. 26 Calm, clear, warm, and sunny. Drove i n the afternoon with Frank Watson to Sobrante to look at the salt marshes along the northh edge of, this peninsula west of Finole. Are fairly con- tinuous for about a mile and vary from 75 to loo yards in width. Used to extend inland up each valley, but now cut off by the railroad bed. West of Sobrante, they are pure salicornia with no song sparrows - because sal. very short. East, have much Grindelia too - the higher type of marsh with no tules. Song sparrows abundant in the grindelia. Several singing. One singing