FRIXGILLID.E: FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPARROWS. 429 



Note. — A. b. dementis is described as " exactly like A. belli, but larger and with relatively larger bill " ; but the 

 dimeusious assigned do not bear out this statement : Length of skins 5.20-5.70 ; wing 2.45-2.72 ; tail 2.30-2.68 ; culmen 

 0.38-0.41; depth of bill at base 0.22-0.23; tarsus 0.79-0.85 ; middle toe 0.49-0.53. San Clemente Island. A. 6. "cte- 

 vtentetp " Rmow. Auk, July, 1898, p. 230 ; not adopted by A. O. U., 1899. 



A. b. cine'rea. (Lat. cinereiis, ashy in color). Gray Sage Sparrow. Resembling the 

 next subspecies (nevadensis) in lightness of coloration, but even paler and less streaked, lacking 

 dark streaks on back, having those on breast and throat few and small. Very small : length 

 5.50 or less; wing 2.25; tail 2.15; tarsus 0.75; bill 0.35. Lower California. Towns. Pr. 

 U. S. Nat. Mus. xiii. 1890, p. 136; A. 0. U. List, 2d ed. 1895, No. 574 6. 

 A. b. iievaden'sis. (Lat. of Nevada; Span, nevada, snowy, applied to the Sierra Nevada or 

 main range of mountains of California by Padre Pedro Font in 1775-76.) Artemisia Spar- 

 row. Nevada Sage Sparrow. Similar to A. belli in coloration. Edge of wing, and 

 sometimes lesser coverts, yellowish. Above, ashy-brown, much as in deserticola, clearer ash 

 anteriorly, more brownish behind ; also clearer in high plumage, and more overcast with brown 

 in less mature specimens ; middle of back and scapulars very notably streaked with fine black 

 lines. Below, white; sides, and sometimes, especially in fall specimens, most under parts 

 shaded with pale fulvous-brown ; sides, and sometimes breast, with dusky streaks, which on 

 side of neck tend to run in a chain, partly distinguishing a pure white lateral stripe above them 

 from the general whitish of under parts. Sides of head slaty, becoming dusky on lores ; a con- 

 spicuous white eye-ring. A short white line above lores, and another on middle of forehead. 

 Wings and tail as in A. belli; outer feather edged and tipped with white. Bill dark bluish- 

 plumbeous, under mandible sometimes yellowish. Paler and larger than belli proper ; wing 

 and tail averaging fully 3.00, if not more; bill 0.35; tarsus 0.75. The strongly marked form 

 of the Great Basin, N. to 40^ and beyond, resident breeding throughout its range; abounding 

 in the sage-brush deserts of eastern Oregon, portions of Idaho and Montana, interior California, 

 Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. Nesting as in belli ; eggs 3-4, 0.80 X 

 0.60, pale greenish or grayish, profusely speckled with reddish-brown and blackish-brown, 

 with purplish shell-markings. 



JUX'CO. (?Lat. jimciis, a reed.) Snow Sparrows. Snowbirds. Bill small, strictly 

 conic. Wings rather long, primaries much surpassing short inner secondaries in the closed 

 wing; usually 2d, 3d, and 4th quills longest, 5th little shorter, then 1st and 6th. Tarsus a 

 little longer than middle toe and claw ; lateral toes subequal, their claws about reaching base 

 of middle claw. Tail about as long as wing, slightly emarginate or about even, of rather 

 narrow but firm feathers, rounded oval at ends. A beautiful genus; adults unspotted, uu- 

 streaked, the colors massed in large definite areas; belly, crissum, and 2-3 lateral tail-feathers 

 white ; bill whitish, or black and yellow. Length 6.00-7.00; wing and tail about 3.00. Sexes 

 subsimilar, but ^ clearer and purer in coloration; young entirely difterent, quite streaky. 

 Nest normally on the ground, rarely in a bush ; eggs speckled. One common Eastern species ; 

 in the West Junco is split into numerous forms, which intergrade with one another, and with 

 the Eastern bird ; the degree of diflerence between almost any two of the nearest related ones is 

 about the same. The distinctions between typical styles of each are very nice and easily per- 

 ceived. The theory of hybridization advanced to account for connecting links simply restates 

 without explaining the case; for interbreeding is just one of the conditions of intergraded 

 s))ecies, keeping them from positive distinctness. Adult male birds of the several forms afibrd 



the following 



Analysis of Species or Subspecies. 



Two white wing-bars. Ashy, without any reddish tints. Western aikeni 



No white wing-bars. 



Bill flesh-color ; eyes brown. 



Eastern species. Blackish-ash, with no reddish anjTvhere hietnalis and carolinensis 



Western species. 



Sides pinkish, or of some tint different from that of the breast. 



