202 Scott o>i the Birds of Arizona. [July 



Of the three specimens of dorsalis one has the bill wholly black and of 

 exceptionally large size. 



The fialliatus series presents much variation in respect to the extension 

 of the red upon the secondaries and the wing-coverts, from those showing 

 but a slight trace of it on these parts, and thus barely separable from 

 dorsalis, to those having the greater coverts and inner secondaries as red 

 as the back. In short, the intergradation between these two forms is 

 shown to be complete by the specimens in Mr. Scott's series. 



In early spring specimens of both caniceps and fialliatus, the red of the 

 dorsal region is of a much lighter and brighter tone than in autumnal 

 specimens. — J. A. A.] 



161. Amphispiza bilineata. Black-throated Sparrow. — A com- 

 mon resident in the foothill region of the Catalinas, and also abundant 

 about Tucson. It breeds commonly at both points, and generally at suita- 

 ble elevations and localities throughout the region under consideration. 

 In the Catalinas, up to an altitude of 4500 feet, it is rather more abundant 

 in spring and fall than during the breeding season or in the winter. At 

 this point the breeding season begins early in March, and continues well 

 into the latter part of the summer. A male taken near my house, August 

 16, 1SS4. had the testes developed to fully as great an extent as at any time 

 during the breeding period. The number of eggs varies from two to five, 

 three or four being the general complement. The nests are built near the 

 ground in some low bush or cactus, and occasionally on the ground. By 

 the 1st to 10th of May in the Catalina region the first broods of young 

 have left the nest and parent birds, and go about in small flocks of from 

 five to twenty. The amount of black showing on the throats of young 

 male birds varies greatly; in some it is hardly to be distinguished, while 

 in others it is conspicuous, though not as brilliant as in the adult birds. 

 There is every possible gradation between these two extremes; and young 

 females often show traces of the black throat-marking. 



The species is very familiar, and being so common, and having a pleas- 

 ing song, it may fairly be considered as occupying about the same relative 

 position in the Fringillidae of the region that the familiar Sfiizella socialis 

 does in the East. 



[Mr. Scott's series of 5S specimens includes 18 in first plumage. They 

 wholly lack the black of the throat and face, but the white superciliary and 

 maxillary stripes are distinct; the whole dorsal surface is of a lighter, more 

 ashy brown, and the feathers of the interscapular region are obscurely 

 streaked centrally with dusky; throat whitish, often with faint touches or 

 streaks of dusky ; whole breast streaked with blackish, more or less heavily 

 in different individuals ; in some the streaks being narrow and indistinct, in 

 others broad and heavy. The tail is less intensely black, the white edg- 

 ing of the outer webs and the white spot on the inner web of the outer 

 feathers in the adult are usually wholly wanting; the latter is sometimes 

 present, but much reduced in size. 



Adults in the fall have the brown of the dorsal surface deeper than in 

 spring and summer, but there is apparently no sexual difference in color. 

 -J. A. A.J 



