1004 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part 2 



AMPHISPIZA BILINEATA CARMENAE van Rossem 



Carmen Black -throated Sparrow 

 Contributed by Richard C. Banks 



Habits 



This subspecies of the black-throated sparrow is found only on 

 Carmen Island in the Gulf of California. C. H. Townsend (1923) and 

 Joseph Grinnell (1927, 1928b) referred to specimens from this island, 

 but under other subspecific names. It was not until 1945 that 

 Adriaan J. van Rossem separated the bh-ds of Carmen Island from 

 A. b. hangsi of the southern part of the peninsula of Baja Cahfornia 

 on the basis of their shghtly grayer color and different wing and tail 

 proportions. Some authorities do not yet accept the race, but I 

 agree with A. J. van Rossem that it can be separated on the basis 

 of color. 



Very little information is available for this subspecies. A. J. van 

 Rossem (1945b) indicated that the breeding season began in March, 

 but R. C. Banks (1964a) thought that date was too early, breeding 

 not being well under way until the middle or latter part of April. 



Distribution 



Range. — The Carmen black-throated sparrow is resident on Carmen 

 Island off central eastern Baja Cahfornia. 



AMPHISPIZA BELLI NEVADENSIS (Ridgway) 



Northern Sage Sparrow 

 Contributed by Alden H. Miller 



Habits 



The sage sparrow is typical of the sagebrush country of the Great 

 Basin where it nests. Inconspicuous in its somewhat conceaUng 

 color, and neither bold in actions nor in song, it may be overlooked 

 on first exploration of its semidesert envkonment. The race nevad- 

 ensis is the most wide ranging and the most migratory of the several 

 forms of sage sparrow. The coastal races, sharply demarked in 

 range and in their darker color, are often referred to as Bell's sparrows 

 in contrast to the inland sage sparrows. 



All the sage sparrows are ground dwellers, spending most of their 

 time on sand, gravel pavement, and alkaU hardpan between and be- 

 neath bushes, or if the ground they range over is not bare, it is not 

 more than slightly grown to grass or littered with fallen leaves and 

 twigs. When alarmed they mount to the bush tops briefly, only to 



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