2'4o Chadbourne 0)1 a New Race of Field Sparrow. [April 



ON A NEW RACE OF THE FIELD SPARROW 

 FROM TEXAS. 



BY ARTHUR P. CHADBOURNE. 



Spizella pusilla arenacea, var. nov. Western 

 Field Sparrow. 



Ch. Subsp. — Similar to 5. pusilla but with the rufous replaced by 

 brownish-ash, and of slightly larger size, with decidedly longer tail and 

 somewhat heavier bill. 



9 (No. 2141, author's collection. Laredo, Southern Texas, Nov. I2' 

 18S5; F. B. Armstrong, collector): Back and rump pale brownish-ash, 

 the feathers of the back with dark shaft streaks, which, particularly on the 

 scapulars, are edged with light chestnut. Crown with two lateral stripes 

 of pale sandy brown, that are but little darker than the back and are con- 

 tinuous with the ash of the nape, supercijiai'y lines, and middle of the 

 crown. Sides of head brownish-ash, except on the auriculars, which are 

 pale chestnut. Underparts white, tinged with ashy-brown, deepest on 

 the breast, flanks, and under tail-coverts. All wing-feathers edged with 

 pale brown or white. Otherwise similar to 5. pusilla. 



Dimensions: Wing, 2.50; tail, 2.96; culmen, .35. 



Migratory or perhaps resident in winter in Southern Texas. Summer 

 habitat unknown. 



The bii'd described above is very different from any eastern 

 specimen I have ever examined. The whole bird is very much 

 paler and the dark streaks on the back less prominent, owing to 

 their lacking the bright rufous edging, and to their being con- 

 fluent with the lighter ground color. The ash of the throat, 

 sides of the head, flanks and under-tail coverts is tinged with a 

 sandy or brownish-ash instead of rufous, and there is a broad 

 band of ash on the pileum and over the eye. The bill is stouter 

 than in eastern birds and the tail decidedly longer. 



Of the six specimens collected at Laredo during the past fall 

 and winter, only two present the characters described above. 

 One of the remaining four is, however, almost a perfect inter- 

 mediate (No. 2226, author's collection), but the other three can 

 be exactly matched in color by Massachusetts skins. iVll of the 

 Texan skhis, ten in numbei", that I have been able to examine, 

 tend to be less rufescent than eastern birds and to have a longer 

 tail, but unfortunately these characters do not seem to.be quite 

 constant, at any rate not in the migratory birds. 



