FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 249 



Peninsula and Unimak Island. My field studies were summarized 

 in a report, as follows: 



May 22, near Moffet Cove on Izembek Bay, I heard the first golden- 

 crowned sparrow. Next day there were many. [In 1941, Beals and Long- 

 worth reported the first ones at False Pass on May 5.] They were common 

 among the alders, as far as these bushes grow up the valley toward Aghileen 

 Pinnacles. They were noted in the alder patches at the base of Frosty Peak, 

 at False Pass, and Ikatan. While not as numerous as some other sparrows, 

 the golden-crown nests commonly throughout the region covered, though 

 local range is naturally governed by the boundaries of the alder patches, 

 which are by no means universally distributed. This statement, however, 

 must be subject to some exceptions, for on July 10 and 11 three males were 

 singing and on July 15 a specimen was taken on Amak Island, where there 

 are no alders and the largest form of vegetation is the cow parsnip. 



On one occasion I heard a distinct variation of the song. Instead of three 

 notes in decending scale, the usual second and third notes were reversed. 

 It was the normal song for this bird, as I heard it day after day in the same 

 clump of alders near camp. 



Passerella iliaca: Fox Sparrow 

 Passerella iliaca zaboria 



The fox sparrows of this region present an interesting distri- 

 butional pattern. At the base of Alaska Peninsula there are a 

 number of specimens of typical zaboria. G. D. Hanna collected 

 three specimens in May and June 1911, at Nushagak (Nos. 

 231281, 231282, and 231283, U. S. National Museum). He also 

 obtained an immature male at Kakwok, August 19, 1911 (No. 

 239707). There is another taken at Nushagak on June 20, 1881 

 (No. 86535). And on May 26, 1936, I obtained a specimen on the 

 Nushagak River, at Snag Point (original No. 3528). Osgood 

 also mentions a specimen taken at Nushagak, by McKay, June 6, 

 1881, which I have not examined. Furthermore, on July 17, 1940, 

 Gabrielson recorded several eastern-type fox sparrows at Dilling- 

 ham (with one specimen) and, the next day, he saw several at 

 Wood River Lakes. 



At any rate, the birds occupying the base of Alaska Peninsula, 

 in the Nushagak district, apparently are typical zaboria from 

 the interior Alaska fox-sparrow population, which has found 

 here an outlet to the southwest coast of Alaska. 



Here, too, it has come in contact with another fox sparrow 

 population — the unalaschcensis group. There are several interest- 

 ing specimens that have intermediate characters — two immature 

 birds, (Nos. 239705 and 239706, U. S. National Museum), taken 

 by Hanna at Kakwok, and another (No. 110105) taken by J. W. 

 Johnson in this general area, July 14, 1885. The streaking on the 



