162 PASSEEELLA TOWNSEXDII VAR. SCKISTACEA. 



shrubbery. You will find such company, ngain, in the ravines over- 

 grown with fimilax and brambles that lead' down to the brook; and as 

 you pass along neglected fences, fringed with tall, rank weeds, you may 

 surprise the birds out for a morning's ramble, and make them hurry 

 back in alarm to the shelter of heavier undergrowth. 



I have never known a single Fox Sparrow to nest iu the United States, 

 nor even loiter within our limits through tlie summer; though Auduboa 

 states, upon perhaps insuflicient grounds, that it remains iu abundance 

 during the season around Boston. Nor did I find a nest in Labrador, 

 where it is said to breed, as well as in various British provinces north of 

 us. " The nest," says Audubon, " which is large for the size of the bird, 

 is usually placed on the ground, among moss or tall grass, near the 

 stem of a creeping fir, the branches of which completely conceal it from 

 view. Its exterior is loosely formed of dry grass and moss, with a care- 

 fully-disposed under-layer of finer grasses, circularly arranged; and the 

 lining consists of very delicate fibrous roots, together with some feathers 

 from different species of water-fowl." The eggs, he adds, are laid from 

 the middle of June to the 5th of July. The nest is not always, how- 

 ever, placed on the ground, but sometimes in a bush or low tree, eight 

 or ten feet high. 



The eggs show the same style as those of Zonotricliia and Melospisa 

 in heavy coloring, wholly indeterminate in size and shape of the mark- 

 ings, upon a pale greenish-gray ground; and in some instances the 

 whole egg assumes a nearly uniform dark chocolate hue, much like that 

 of PlectropUancs lapponicus. The reddish-brown blotching is usu.ally, 

 however, much as in a Song Sparrow's or White-throated Sparrow's. 

 The size of the egg is about 0.95 by 0.G8. 



PASSERELLA TOWNSENDII var. SCHISTACEA, (Bd.) Coues. 



Slate-colored Sparrow. 



a. toivnsendii. 



C?) FringiUa nnalasJuensis, Gsi., Syst. Nat. 1, 1788, 875 (Oonalashka Bunting, Lath., Syn. 



ii, 202 ; Penn., 52). 

 FassereUa unuJaskensis, FiNSCii., Abli. Nat. iii, 1872, 53 (Alaska). 

 FrbujilJa iownscmlii, Aud., Oru. Biog. v, 1839, 236, pi. 424, f. 7 ; Syn. 1839, 119 ; B. Am. 



iii, 1841, 43, pi. 187. 

 Fr'nigUhi (Passerella) townscndii, Nutt., Man. i, 1840, 533. 

 Tadsen-Ua fownsendii, Bp., Cousp. i, 1850, 477.— Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 489.— Coop. & Suck., 



N. H. Wash. Ter. 1860, 204.— U all & Bann., Tv. Chic. Acad, i, 1869, 285.— 



Coues, Key, 1872, 352.— B. B. & R., N. A. B. ii, 1874, 53, pi. 28, f. 8. 

 PassorUa iJiaca var. townsendii, Coues, Key, 1872, 147. 

 Fringilla mcniloides, ViG., Zool. Beech. Voy. 1839, 19 (Monterey). 

 (?) Emheriza {Zoiiotrichia) rtijina, Kittl., Deuk. 1858, 200 (Sitka). 



Hab. — Pacific Coast, North America. Alaska to Southern California. 



b. schistacea. 



Passerella sclihlacea, Bo., B. N. A. 1858, 490, pi. 69, fig. 3 (Platte Elver and Fort Tejou).— 



Snow, B. Kans. 1873, 7. 

 Passerella ilium var. scltistacea, Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 168 (Ogden, Utah).— 



Coues, Key, 1872, 147. 

 Passerella townsendii var. schistacea, Coues, Key, 1872, 352. — B. B. & E., N. A. B. ii, 



1874, .56, pi. 28, f. 9. 

 Passerella mcf/arhyncha, Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 925, pi. 69, fig. 4 (larger hilled form from 



Caliibniia).— Coop., B. Cal. i, 1870, 222. 

 Passerella townsendii var. megarhyncha, B. B. &. R., N. A. B. ii, 1874, 57, jil. 28, f. 10. 

 Passerella schistacea var. viegarhyncha, Ridgw., "Rep. Geol. Exp. 40th parallel" (in press). 



Hal. — Central region, Kansas to California. 



