FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 253 

 Nesting 



The following is quoted from my field report for 1925 : 



On returning to False Pass from Urilia Bay I found the fox sparrow 

 plentiful among the alders. May 13 they were singing everywhere. They 

 are common both on Unimak and the Peninsula, among the alders. Two 

 nests were found in the valley below Aghileen Pinnacles, June 2, constructed 

 as follows: 



No. 1. Outer structure of old brown coarse vegetation, mostly grass ; inner 

 structure of fine dry grass, a little porcupine hair, and a few feathers. Sunk 

 in the ground on the side of a little bank, in moss, completely screened by 

 salmonberry stems and grass, 6 feet from edge of alder patch. Outside 

 diameter 140 mm.; inside diameter 70 mm.; depth 68 mm.; five eggs. 



No. 2. Outer structure of dead grass, inner structure finer grass, with 

 a few feathers, the whole sunk evenly in the ground under some large over- 

 hanging alder stems. Ferns were just emerging near rim. Outside diameter 

 100 mm., inside diameter 70 mm., depth 47 mm.; five eggs. 



Passerella iliaca insularis 



This is the bird of the Kodiak-Afognak Island group, though 

 specimens have been taken elsewhere. It undoubtedly occurs on 

 adjacent parts of Alaska Peninsula and nearby islands, though 

 the limits of its breeding range are unknown. There are two 

 specimens taken by Osgood at Lake Iliamna on July 12 and July 

 14, 1902. These are intermediate in character, but probably 

 should be called insularis. Furthermore, two others taken by Os- 

 good at Hope, in Cook Inlet, also appear referable to insularis. 

 We obtained two specimens on the Barren Islands on May 10 and 

 11, 1936, that are referable to insularis in comparable plumage. 

 I have not examined a specimen taken by Hine in Katmai River 

 Valley, July 9, 1919, and I have not examined specimens from 

 the Semidi Islands, which also are available. 



In summary, insularis is the fox sparrow of the Kodiak-Afog- 

 nak Islands, Barren Islands, and (according to a few available 

 specimens) the adjacent parts of Alaska Peninsula. Probably 

 it extends eastward for an unknown distance to merge with 

 sinuosa, and westward to the range of unalaschcensis. 



We observed many of these birds, singing, on May 12, 1936, 

 on Kodiak Island, and on the next day on Deranof Island near 

 Afognak; we saw them on Afognak on September 2. Gabriel- 

 son noted the birds on Kodiak and Afognak in June 1940, and on 

 that occasion he thought that it was the most abundant bird on 

 Afognak. 



