SAN FRANCISCO BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW 1247 



Van Rossem (1935b) describes this race thiisly: "Briefly, it is a 

 small race A\'ith a slightly darker and less purely gray coloration as 

 compared Avith evura. The characteristics are most pronounced 

 southerly. From Ventura County northward there are slight but 

 definite tendencies toward caurina of the San Francisco Bay region." 



Measm-ement by van Rossem of 18 males from different localities 

 yielded an average \\mg length of 61.7 millimeters and an average tail 

 length of 63.3 millimeters. 



This race is found in habitat typical of the species elsewhere. 

 Grinnell and Miller (1944) describe it as "Arid, fairly tall and at least 

 moderately dense chaparral, usually situated on sloping ground. 

 Frequently the chaparral is of distinctly mixed composition and old 

 burned-over tracts, well along in recovery of vegetation * * *. 

 Most prevalent plant associates are Adsnostoma, Artemisia, tridentata, 

 species of Ceanothus and scrub oak." They note that this race ranges 

 during the nesting season from within a few hundred feet at sea level 

 (San Diego) up to at least 6,800 feet (San Bernardino Mountains) ; 

 indiv-iduals occasionally wander to 8,000 feet in late summer. 



Very little is known of the seasonal movements of this race. Jack 

 von Blocker obtained a male cana at Priest Valley, Monterey County, 

 on Oct. 9, 1937. This region is only a few miles to the south of the 

 mountains of San Benito County where the race caurina breeds. 

 There appear to be only two winter records: one, from the San 

 Fernando Valley, Los Angeles County, Feb. 18, 1922, and a second 

 from San Clemente Island, Dec. 5, 1908. 



Distribution 



Range. — Southern California and Baja California. 



Breeding range. — The California black-chinned sparrow breeds in 

 the mountains of south central and southwestern California (Big Sur 

 River and Coidterville south to San Diego County) and south to 

 northern Baja California (Sierra San Pedro Mdrtir). 



Winter range. — Winters from southwestern California (San Fernando 

 Valley, San Clemente Island) south to southern Baja California 

 (Cabo San Lucas). 



SPIZELLA ATROGULARIS CAURINA Miller 



San Francisco Black -chinned Sparrow 



Contributed by John D. Newsian 



Habits 



This, the most recently discovered race of the black-chinned spar- 

 row, was described by Alden H. Miller in 1929. 



