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



Casual records. — Casual in migration east to New Brunswick (Grand 

 Manan), Massachusetts (Ipswich), North CaroUna (Stumpy Point), 

 and Florida (Key West) . 



AIMOPHILA CARPALIS CARPALIS (Coues) 



Rufous-winged Sparrow 

 Contributed by Allan R. Phillips 



Habits 



One of the several confusing, obscure species of southern Arizona 

 and Mexico, the rufous-winged sparrow, like most of its close relatives, 

 looks like "just a sparrow." It sports no strikin g black tail nor cravat, 

 no showy pattern on crown or tail. It has no brilliant song nor 

 striking call. It is just a trim little bird, much hke a chipping sparrow 

 in general appearance, but with different striping on the head. It 

 does not gather into prominent flocks. The casual observer would 

 probably vote it among our birds least likely to be of any interest, 

 especially if he were aware that it is sedentary and presents no 

 problems of migration. 



How wrong he would be! The rufous-winged sparrow is far more 

 than "just a sparrow." It is a bird of exceptional interest, particularly 

 for its history and the strange interrelations of its Ufe cycle and 

 molts. Besides, it can weU claim the title of the most misunderstood 

 bird in the United States. As R. T. Moore (1946) aptly says: "few 

 species have suffered so much from conjecture and inspired guessing." 

 Moore himself, unfortunately, here adds his share of inaccuracies. 



Historically, the last two really distinct species of United States 

 birds to be discovered (except for the nocturnal Caprimulgus ridgwayi) 

 were found by the redoubtable Charles E. Bendire on the RilUto near 

 Tucson, Ariz., in 1872: Bendire's thrasher and the rufous-winged 

 sparrow. To be sure, a few other local and well-marked races of 

 birds were yet to be discovered, but probably none deserves the rank 

 of a full species. When the now historic Fort LoweU was removed 

 from Tucson to the Rillito, both C. E. Bendire and Henry W. Henshaw 

 promptly found the rufous-winged sparrow abundant there; yet 

 within a few years it vanished completely. Herbert Brown took a 

 specimen at or near Tucson early in 1886; thereafter not a single 

 Aimophila carpalis was found in the Tucson area for half a century. 

 Finally E. C. Jacot secured a pair in 1936 weU away from the original 

 points of discovery, and some time later took a third specimen. 

 Unaware of these details, I found the birds late in 1938. In the late 

 1930s most or all of the birds in the Tucson area were in grassy swales 

 on the desert east and southeast of town. Later I foimd others in 



