156 ZONOTRICHIA LEUCOPHRYS VAR. INTERMEDIA. 



leaves in the tbickets. It siujjs constantly during June and July, and 

 occasionally in August, mounting to the top of some high bush, the 

 dead limb of a pine, or any convenient perch well elevated above the 

 surrounding shrubbery, and chanting its ditty at short intervals for 

 half an hour or more at a time — a lively, agreeable song, fine and clear, 

 and frequently heard from a score or more of birds at once, with a most 

 pleasing effect. Wliile his mate is setting, the male sings almost con- 

 stantly throughout the day, and sometimes eveu late into the evening, 

 long after dark — I have heard it at midnight, and even as late as one or 

 two o'clock. It is very tame; a pair had their nest within a few feet of 

 our camp at Chicago Lake, and all the bnstle and noise did not drive the 

 female froui her nest, while her mate would pick up crumbs which we 

 threw to hitn, almost at our feet. It commences building in July, and 

 the young are hatched about the 20th ; the nest is placed on the ground 

 in a clump of bushes, composed of coarse grass and weeds, and lined 

 w'ith fine grass. The eggs are usually four, of a pale bluish-greeu, very 

 thickly speckled and dotted with reddish-brown, the latter color almost 

 wholly obscuring the former at the larger end. In September it begins 

 to descend ; by October is abundant at Idaho, and by November has 

 disappeared. It is by no means as numerous in the lower valleys dur- 

 ing fall as in spring, passing through much more quickly, a peculiarity 

 shared by many species whose migrations are similar, as Myiodioctes 

 pusillus, JJendrcvca auduboni, and others." 



ZONOTRICHIA LEUCOPHRYS, var. INTERMEDIA, Ridgw. 



Ridgway's Sparrow. 



ZonoMchia gambeli, Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 460 (iu part. lucludes the original Friiu/illa 

 gambcli of Nutt., Man. i, 2d ed. 184U, 550; Gamb., Pr. Phila. Acad. 1843, '2(v2, or 

 Zonotriehia <jamhdi,G\M\i., Jouru. Pbila. Acad, i, 1847, 50, wbich is the Pacilic 

 coast form, appreciably difterent). — Hayd., Rep. 18(52, 160. — CoUES. Pr. Pbila. 

 Acad. Irim, 84 (Arizona).— Dall & Banx., Tr. Cbic. Acad, i, iHOi), 284 (Alaska).— 

 Stev., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 1870, 404 (Wyoming).— Meiu?., ibid. 1872,681.— 

 Hold., Pr. Bost. Soc. xv, 1872, 199 (Bbick Hills).— Tkippe, ibid. 237 (Iowa). 



Zonofrichia hucophrjjs var. (jambeli, Allex, Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 157, 177. — Coues, 

 Key, 1872, 145 (m part ; includes tbe true gambeli). 



Zonotrichia leucojihrys var. intermedia, Ridgw., Mss. — Coues, Check-list, App. No. — . 



Hab. — Rocky Mountain region, Alaska to Mexico. Middle Dakota (Coues). East- 

 ward, rarely, to Iowa (Trippe). 



Lientetiant Warren's Expedition. — 4793, Duriou's Hill ; 4795, Vermilion River. 



Later Expediiions. — 60040-55, 60989-95, 60993, 61019, various Wyoming localities ; 

 62299, Idaho. 



Mr. Ridgway has lately shown that the western style of Teucophrtjs, so similar to the 

 typical form as to be only distinguished by the different loral pattern, and which is 

 usually called '' (/ambeU," is not the (jambeli of Nuttall. The latter is contined to the 

 Pacific coast, and is a very curious form, having almost exactly the plumage and gen- 

 eral appearance (excepting the bead-markings) of Z. eoronata. Examining these 

 forms, we agree with him in making a varietal distinction. There is nothing in the 

 Pacific coast race (true gambeli) of the peculiar purplish-ashy tinge of plumage that 

 marks leneophriis and var. intermedia, and the bend of the wing is decidedly yellowish. 



Among the numerous Warren examples of lenco2)hrgs, are two referable to var. inter- 

 media, as are all of the large series taken by Stevenson and Merriam, as above quoted. 

 They are foimd associated in many Rocky Mountain localities, and also further east, 

 ■with true leiieopliri/s. Mr. Allen only iound leuivphriis in Kansas and Colorado, meet- 

 ing with var. " gambeli " {intermedi(() iu Utah. The latter I found abundant in Arizona, 

 at various seasons, thougli most plentifully during the migrations ; and I believe it is 

 resident iu the Territory, the varied conditions of surface of which offer suitable 

 retreats at the different seasons. In Dakota I encountered it in numbers as far east as 

 102° of longitude, during the fall migration; no lencophrys proper was observed. Mr. 

 Trippe has noted it from Iowa, the easternmost locality on record. 



