196 Bird - Lore 



The constancy in the characters of the Bronzed Crackle throughout its 

 enormous breeding range, the fact that it varies in color on'y where its range 

 reaches that of the Purple Crackle, and the further facts that without regard 

 to locality, whether in Massachusetts or Tennessee, its intergradation with 

 that species is always accomphshed through a similar color character and that 

 this area of intergradation is not one in which geographic or climatic inter- 

 gradation is known to occur among other birds — all indicate that the Bronzed 

 and Purple Crackles intergrade by hybridization. 



The case is an exceedingly interesting and important one and presents a 

 rare opportunity to the field ornithologist who may set the question of the 

 exact status of these birds at rest by a study of their distribution and relation- 

 ships during the breeding season in the lower Mississippi Valley and particu- 

 larly western Louisiana where it is possible the ranges of the Florida and 

 Bronzed Crackles may come together. 



