fringillidjE: finches, buntings, sparrows. 



443 



's Fox Sparrow. J 9: 



•u tiiiyo, ami the stivakiiii;; 



ally to Colorado, casually to Califoniia ; but in Alaska regularly to Bering Sea ; N. to the Arctic 

 coast. Breeds throughout British America and in Alaska ; not known to do so anywhere in the 

 U. S. Winters from the Middle States southward. Nest on ground or in bushes or trees ; 

 eggs 3-5, O.'Jo X 0.70, greenish-white, thickly speckled with rusty-brown ; general aspect as 

 in Zonotrichia and Melospiza. 



P. i. unalascen'sis. (Of the Island of Uiialashka.) Townsenii 

 General color above dark olive-brown, overcast witli a reddish-bro\ 

 obsolete, — thus giving a uniform 

 and continuous ruddy-olive tone, 

 becoming more foxy-red on rump, 

 wings, and tail. Wing-bars ob- 

 solete. Beneath, white, thickly 

 marked, excepting on the middle 

 of the belly, with triangular spots 

 of about tlie same dark color as 

 the back, — aggregated on breast, 

 and entire sides of neck and body 

 almost like back in uniformity 

 of color, still showing ill-defin 

 confluent dark reddish-browii 

 streaks on a more olive-brown 

 ground. Cheeks and auriculars 

 with some whitish speckling. No 

 obvious markings on wings. Bill 

 dusky above, apparently reddish 

 or yellowish below; feet reddish- Fia 290 -Fox Sparrow, reduced (Shepparddel ^lchoU «,t ) 



brown. Size of iliaca, but very different in color, and somewhat differently proportioned ; wing 

 averaging 3.25, and tail scarcely or not shorter ; bill about 0.50 ; hind claw the same, and as 

 long as its digit. Eggs not distinguishable with certainty from those of iliaca in size, form, 

 or color, but tending to be rather distinctly spotted than heavily clouded. A curious form, 

 related to iliaca much as Melospiza rufina is to the Eastern Song Sparrow. Pacific coast 

 region, from Alaska Peninsula to southern California in winter, breeding north of the United 

 Stat(>s. (P. townsendi Aud. The A. 0. U. spells the name unalaschcensis, after Gm. 1788.) 

 An attempt has been made to split this subspecies into two, distinguishing as P. i. townsendi 

 the bird which breeds in the Sitka district of Alaska. 



P. i. fuligino'sa. (Lat. fuliginosa, fuliginous, sooty.) SooTY Fox Sparrow. Like Town- 

 send's, but darker and less rufescent ; ui)per parts and sides sooty-brown; upper tail-coverts 

 and tail more rufescent; spots of under parts ve-y dark brown, large and confluent. Coast 

 H'gion of British Columbia, Vancouver's Island, and Washington State, breeding; S. in winter 

 along coast to San Francisco, Cal. RIOGW^ Auk, Jan. 1899, p. 3(). 



P. i. scliista'cea. (Lat. schistacea, slaty; Gr. <txi(tt6s, schistos, fissile or cleft, as slate-stone 

 is ; the allusion, however, is to color. Fig. 300.) Slate-colorep Fox Sparrow. Adult 

 ^ 9 : General color above uniform slate witli a slight olive tinge, beci)ming dull foxy-red on 

 ■wings and tail ; streaking of back obsolete, but whitish wing-bars sometimes indicated. 

 Below, white, shaded along sides with color of back, but not so as to obscure tlie decided 

 markings of the parts; under parts at large spotted and streaked with dusky-brown, usually 

 aggregated into a blotch on breast. This is the connecting link between iliaca and mialas- 

 ■cemis ; the upper parts are nearly of the slaty-ash that forms the ground color i>f iliaca, only 

 the foxy streaks of the back are obsolete. The spotting below is correspondingly darker. The 

 form lias, however, some peculiarities : tail decidedly longer in comparison with wings. Length 



