FRIXGILL1D.E — TILE FINCHES — SPIZELLA. 999 



Spizella Breweri, Cassin. 



BREWER'S SPARROW. 



Emheriza pallida, AuDUBOy, Orn. Biog. V. 1839, 66; pi. 398, f. 2. Ib. Synopsis, 1839. 



Ib. Birds Amcr. III. 1841, 71 ; pi. 161. — Heeemaxn, P. R. Kcp. X. vi. 48. (Not of 

 Swainson, 1831.) 



Spizella Breweri, Cassix, Pr. A. N. Sc. VIII. Feb. 1856, 40. — Baird, P. R. Rop. IX. 

 " Birds, 475. — Kenxekly, X. iv. 29. — Newberry, VI. iy. 88. 



Sp. Cu.vu. Smaller than .S. socialis. Back and sides of hind neck ashy. Prevailing 

 color above pale brownish-yellow, with a tinge of grayish. The feathers of back and 

 crown streaked with blackish. Beneath whitish, tinged with brown on the breast and 

 sides, and an indistinct narrow brown streak on the edge of the chin. Ear coverts brown- 



ish-yellow, margined above and below by dark brown. Crown with median and super- 

 ciliary ashy-white stripe. Length, 5.38 ; extent, 7.38 ; wing, 2.50. Iris and feet brown ; 

 bill black, brown below. 



Hab. Rocky Jlountains of United States to the Pacific Coast. 



Spizella imllida, Swainson, Fauna Bor. Amer. II. 1831, 251, only differs 

 from S. Breweri in having the marking more distinct, and in not having 

 brownish shafts to the featliers of the sides of body, besides being confined, 

 according to Baird, to tlie east side of the Rocky Mountains. Dr. Coues (Pr. 

 Phil. Ac. 1866) is satisfied of tlieir difference. 



At Fort ]\Iojave I found small flocks of this sj^ecies after ]\Iarch 20th, fre- 

 quenting grassy spots among low bushes, and a montli later they were sing- 

 ing, much in tlie style of a canaiy, but more faintly ; they probably remain 

 in the valley all summer. I)r. Kennerly obtained one along Williams Fork 

 of the Colorado, in February, so that they probably winter there, as do sev- 

 eral other birds found by him, but which I did not find at Fort Mojave 

 in winter, thougli situated in a lower and milder valley. Drs. Heermann 

 and NewbeiTy also found tliem common in the Sacramento and Tejon 

 Valleys in autumn. Dr. C'oucs met witli them in small numbers at Fort 

 "Whipple, Arizona, where they breed. 

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