Oberholser — Forms of Astragali-mis Psaltria {Say). 115 



mordleti from the Lower Rio Grande — or to a tendency toward 

 intergradation with the green-backed form found farther to the 

 westward. Moreover, there seem to be no other characters to 

 separate the birds of Colorado (psaltria) from those of Mexico 

 (mexicanus). From these facts it therefore is apparent that 

 Astragalinus p. mexicamis is the same as Astra galinus p. psaltria. 



The name arizonce* was based on New Mexico birds in the 

 parti-colored immature plumage, and is undoubtedly a synonym 

 of psaltria. The type (No. 37,091, U. S. Nat. Mus.) came from 

 near Fort Wingate, New Mexico; and another specimen taken 

 at the same time (June 28) is almost pure black above. In 

 treating this form, Mr. Ridgway curiously enough overlooked 

 the type and the two other specimens taken simultaneously by 

 Dr. Coues, stating that none of these were in the collection of 

 the United States National Museum f . New Mexico, with the 

 exception of its extreme southwestern corner, seems to be in- 

 habited solely by the black-backed bird psaltria. 



All adult males from Lower California, California, Nevada, 

 Arizona, together with those we have seen from Utah have the 

 back olive green, apparently never assuming the black plumage 

 of true psaltria- and rarely have even a mixture of black in the 

 back or auriculars, such individuals indicating probably, as Mr. 

 Brewster suggests, merely an aberrant tendency of this green- 

 backed form. True intermediates doubtless do occur, however, 

 in northwestern Mexico. 



From what has been said in the foregoing paragraphs it may 

 be premised that there are but two forms of Astragalinus 

 pisaltria in North America north of southern Mexico, and that 

 one of these is unnamed. They may be distinguished as 

 follows: 



Astragalinus psaltria psaltria (Say). 



Frinyilla psaltria Say, Long's Exped. Rocky Mts., II, 1823, p. 40. 

 Carduelis mexicana Swainson, Philos. Mag., N. S., I, 1827, p. 435. 

 Fringilla melanoxantha Lichtenstein, Preis-Verz. Mex. Yog., 1830, p. 2. 

 Fringilla texensis Giraud, Sixteen Species North Amer. Birds, 1841, 

 pl- 5, fig. 1. 



*Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1866, pp. 82, 83. 

 fBirds of North and Middle Amer., I, 1901, p. 116, footnote. 



