976 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 2 



cruz, by Matteo Botteri, a Dalmatian botanist and traveler. Al- 

 though C. B. R. Kennerly collected a specimen in 1855 at Nogales, 

 presumably in the Mexican state of Sonora close to the border of 

 Arizona, the species was not admitted to the United States list until 

 1873 and 1874, when the noted pioneer ornithologist H. W. Henshaw 

 collected 14 specimens in the vicinities of Camp (Fort) Grant, Camp 

 Crittenden (near Sonoita), and Cienega (near Tucson) in the Terri- 

 tory of Arizona. Since these early times Botteri's sparrow has claimed 

 little attention and, until just a few years ago, little was known of 

 of its occurrence in Arizona and Texas, to say nothing of its range in 

 Mexico. Present knowledge of the species' range, both as to season 

 and locality, still is fragmentary at best. At least in Arizona and 

 Texas it is known to be migratory. 



According to the A. O. U. Check-List (1957) the Arizona and 

 Texas populations of Botteri's sparrow consist of different subspecies, 

 botterii and texana. Additional subspecies occur in Mexico. Some 

 students, notably J. Dan Webster (1959), regard the so-called Peten 

 or yellow-carpalled sparrow (Aimophila petenica) as being conspecific 

 with Botteri's sparrow. Webster classifies the form of Arizona and 

 Northwestern Mexico as Aimophila botterii arizonae (Ridgway). To 

 avoid confusion, the present discussion disregards those forms assigned 

 by some authors to A. petenica^ or those subspecies formerly regarded 

 as belonging to A. petenica, whichever the case may be. It might 

 fittingly be added that the differences of opinion arising from the 

 problems of classifying Botteri's sparrow are typical of other per- 

 plexities encountered in studying the species. Much of this, nat- 

 urally, is due to its secretiveness and from the diflBculty of identifying 

 it either in the field or in the hand. 



There is nearly universal agreement that Botteri's sparrow through- 

 out its range requires grassland, with at least a scattering of brush or 

 small trees. In Arizona it favors giant sacaton or other tall grasses 

 with mesquite and catclaw (Monson, 1947). In Texas the birds like 

 salt grass (Spartina) with some yucca, prickly pear, and mesquite 

 (Harper, 1930). In its Mexican territory, Botteri's sparrow prefers 

 open grassland with live oak, as in the Aribabi Hills of Sonora (Mar- 

 shall, MS.) ; almost pure grass, grazed moderately to heavily, with an 

 occasional acacia, stone wall, or prickly pear, as in Zacatecas, Durango, 

 and northern JaUsco (Webster, MS.) ; and palm-dotted savannah, as 

 in coastal Nayarit (Phillips, MS.). Although heavy grass stands are 

 more typical habitat, the species also occurs in heavily grazed grass- 

 land near Oaxaca City (Webster, 1959), and in the Sierra de Tamauli- 

 pas it has been found in a burned over section (Martin, Robins, and 

 Heed, 1954). Quite a number were noted in Zacatecas in spots where 



