544 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part i 



tucky — Louisville, November 27. Quebec — Morin Heights, Septem- 

 ber 28. Vermont — Stratton, October 7. Massachusetts — Concord, 

 October 27. Rhode Island — Johnston, November 20. Connecticut — 

 Saybrook, November 6. New York — Babylon, October 6. Pennsyl- 

 vania — Hawk Mountain, Hamburg, October 17; Media, October 22. 

 Delaware — Hoops Dam, November 16. Maryland — Laurel, Novem- 

 ber 13. District of Columbia — October 23. North Carolina — Piney 

 Creek, December 13. 

 Egg dates. — Nova Scotia: 5 records, February 8 to April 26. 



ARREMONOPS RUFIVIRGATA RUFIVIRGATA Lawrence 



Olive sparrow 



PLATE 28 



Contributed by Oliver L. Austin, Jr. 



Habits 



First described by George Newbold Lawrence in 1851 from a speci- 

 men taken along the Rio Grande near Brownsville, Tex., this species 

 was known commonly for the next century as the Texas sparrow. 

 In 1957 the A.O.U. Check-List adopted olive sparrow as a more fitting 

 vernacular name. The species occurs within Check-List limits only 

 in extreme southern Texas, in Kinney, Atascosa, and Nueces counties. 

 From there its range extends southward along both coasts of Mexico 

 to Yucatan and Chiapas, and an isolated population lives along the 

 the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Some eight subspecies are recog- 

 nized. 



A modest little greenish finch, the olive sparrow is nonmigratory, 

 and the various populations are resident throughout the species' 

 range. It inhabits scrubby chaparral, weedy thickets, and the under- 

 growth near forest edges from sea level to altitudes of 6,000 feet 

 locally in Mexico (Blake, 1953). Though somewhat quiet and re- 

 tiring, it is not particularly shy, and is even inclined to be a bit inquisi- 

 tive at times. While not an uncommon bird, its habits and behavior 

 have not been studied intensively, and little has been written about 

 its life history. 



While in Texas in 1923 Mr. Bent (MS.) wrote: "While resting in a 

 shady resaca near Brownsville, I noticed a small, plainly colored bird 

 hopping about among the fallen leaves on the floor of a thicket, where 

 it was decidedly inconspicuous. As I could see no distinctive mark- 

 ings in its plain, olive-green plumage in the dim light of its shady 

 retreat, I concluded that it must be a Texas span-ow. I was not 

 greatly impressed with its beauty at this first glimpse, but when I 



