Vol. XVI 

 iSgg 



Chapman, The Seaside Spat 



Springs, Florida, — the type locality of peninsula, — and Texas. 

 From the last named State I have only three specimens repre- 

 senting the dark, west Gulf coast form, but the characters they 

 present are shown, by comparison with Mr. Mcllhenny's series 

 of breeding birds from and near Avery's Island, La., to be 

 typical. From a careful study of this material it appears that 

 in fresh and unworn plumage the three forms are to be distin- 

 guished from one another chiefly by the characters set forth in 

 the appended tabular synopsis. Here it may be briefly said that 

 maritimus is greenish olive margined with bluish gray above, 

 with the breast and flanks streaked with bluish gray and mar- 

 gined with buff. In peninsula the upper parts are dull black 

 margined with greenish olive, the breast and flanks being streaked 

 with dusky black margined with buff or bluish gray, while the 

 dark west Gulf coast form has the upper parts deep black bor- 

 dered by mummy brown and margined with bluish gray, the 

 breast and flanks being distinctly streaked with black and heavily 

 margined with pale ochraceous. 



Bearing these differences in mind we may approach the puzzling 

 series of non-breeding birds from South Carolina and Georgia. 

 It contains thirty-one adults and two immature (first plumage) 

 specimens. Fifteen of the adults are perfectly typical, in color, of 

 Long Island maritimus. Only one has the wing under 2.40 in., 

 their average measurements being: wing, 2.46; tail, 2.18; bill 

 from nostril, 45 in. They thus closely approach Long Island 

 birds in size (see table of measurements beyond) , evidence that 

 they were winter residents from the north. 



Of the remaining sixteen adults ten are intermediate between 

 maritimus and peninsula, most of them approaching the latter 

 much more closely than the former. Their average measure- 

 ments are: wing, 2.40; tail, 2.15; bill from nostril, 45. Nine 

 of these birds are in Mr. Brewster's collection, seven of them 

 being labeled by him " peninsula." 



I believe these birds to be resident, racial representatives of 

 maritimus, marking a stage in the geographical variation in this 

 species, which, on the west coast of Florida, appears as peninsula. 

 A specimen, evidently breeding, collected by Dr. Coues at Fort 

 Macon, N. C, April 15, 1869 (U. S. N. M. No. 55523) is appre- 



