238 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 61, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



has indicated. There appears to be gradation from the smaller 

 birds of the eastern and southeastern part of this territory to 

 the large birds of the Aleutians and Commander Islands. The 

 various forms should be included under the species tephrocotis. 

 This parallels the series of song sparrows, which have shown a 

 similar development. 



Leucosticte tephrocotis litforalis 



The rosy finches of Kodiak Island have been difficult to identify. 

 Nelson had reported that both griseonucha and littoralis occur 

 there together, and Friedmann (1935) listed both forms for 

 Kodiak. Allen J. Duvall (to whom I am indebted for further 

 comparisons with additional material after the initial study 

 had been made) finds that Robert Ridgway had at first designated 

 the Kodiak birds as a new form in his manuscript notes, but 

 that later he changed his mind. In 1901, McGregor named the 

 bird Leucosticte kadiaka and defined it as similar to L. 

 griseonucha, but with a smaller bill and smaller, weaker feet 

 and claws. Grinnell (1901) pointed out that five specimens from 

 Kodiak in the collection of Leland Stanford University indicated 

 that — 



an almost complete gradation between Leucosticte tephrocotis of the Sierra 

 Nevada and griseonucha of the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands. Such being 

 the case, then the latter form is a subspecies of tephrocotis, as long ago 

 contended (L. tephrocotis var. griseonucha Coues Key, 1872, p. 130). 



It has been difficult to obtain breeding birds from Kodiak, 

 and specimens from there may be migrants. Thus, it would seem 

 that the kadiaka form must be assumed to be merely intergradation 

 between the birds of the Aleutians farther west and littoralis 

 farther east and south, and it is not included in the Fifth Edition 

 of the A. 0. U. Check-List. 



Leucosticte tephrocotis littoralis is known to occur from White 

 Pass, Yukon Territory, south to central Oregon. But a speci- 

 men taken by Adolph Murie at Savage River, Mount McKinley 

 National Park, September 2, 1923 (298055, U. S. National Mu- 

 seum) , proved to be littoralis, thus extending its range consider- 

 ably northward. In 1926, Joseph Dixon (1938, p. 121) obtained 

 additional specimens there, which also proved to be littoralis. 

 On May 28, 1955, Adolph Murie obtained another specimen of 

 littoralis in Mount McKinley National Park. On the other hand, 

 two specimens that I obtained at Bettles, Alaska, October 17, 

 1924 (298085 and 298086, U. S. National Museum) are L. t. 

 tephrocotis. 



