° 1919 ] Oberholser, Races of Hedymeles melanocephalus. 409 



Fringilla xanthomaschalis Wagler, Isis, 1831, col. 525 (Mexico). 



Fringilla maculata Audubon, Birds Amer., folio ed., IV, 1837, pi. 373, 

 figs. 2, 3, 4 (Columbia River). 



Guiraca tricolor Lesson, Rev. Zool., II, April, 1839, p. 102 (Mexico). 



Pitylus guttatus Lesson, Rev. Zool., II, April, 1839, p. 102 (Mexico). 



[Hedymeles melanocephalus] var. capitalis Baird, in Baird, Brewer, & 

 Ridgway's Hist. North Amer. Birds, II, 1874, p. 70 (Columbia River, 

 Oregon) . 



Zamelodia melanocephala microrhyncha Grinnell, Condor, II, No. 6, 

 Nov. 16, 1900, p. 128 (Buckhorn Canyon, Sierra San Gabriel, Los Angeles 

 Co., California). 



Chars, suhsp. — Size small; particularly of wing, tail, and bill; a post- 

 ocular tawny streak usually present. 



Measurements. 1 — Male: 2 wing, 96.5-101.5 (average, 98.8) mm.; tail, 

 71.2-81.2 (77.5); exposed culmen, 15.2-17.8 (16.5); height of bill at base, 

 13.1-15.1 (14.1); tarsus, 22.6-24.9 (23.1); middle toe without claw, 

 16.5-18.3 (17.8;. 



Female: 3 wing, 93.5-104.1 (average, 97.8) mm.; tail, 74.9-81.3 (78.2); 

 exposed culmen, 15.8-20.1 (17.5); height of bill at base, 14.-15.8 (15); 

 tarsus, 22.4-25.7 (23.6); middle toe without -claw, 17.3-18.8 (17.8). 



Type locality. — Tamascaltepec, Mexico, Mexico. 



Geographic distribution.. — Mexico and the Pacific Coast region of the 

 United States and southern British Columbia. Breeds north in Mexico 

 to northern Vera Cruz, Hidalgo, Guanajuato, and Oposura in north central 

 Sonora, and on the Pacific Coast to southern British Columbia; west to 

 Vancouver Island in British Columbia, western California, Lower Cali- 

 fornia, Durango, Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacan; south to Guerrerro 

 and Oaxaca; and east to Oaxaca, Vera Cruz, Durango, northeastern Lower 

 California, eastern California, southeastern Oregon, and west central 

 Idaho. Winters north to southern Lower California, Mazatlan in Sinaloa 

 and to the Valley of Mexico, and south to Oaxaca and to Chicharras in 

 Chiapas. 



Remarks. — The separation of Hedymeles melanocephalus into 

 two subspecies was originally made on the basis of the difference 

 existing between the birds of California and those of the Rocky 



'Taken by Mr. Robert Ridgway and published in part in his "Rirds of North and 

 Middle America" (Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, part I, 1901, pp. 618-619). It is of 

 importance to note that the measurement of the height of the bill is taken in a straight 

 line from the base of the exposed culmen to the malar apex, not to the nearest point on the 

 ramus of the mandible. This gives a substantially greater measurement than the latter 

 and more common method, and the fact that Mr. Ridgway uses this measurement through- 

 out the volume just quoted, which contains the Fringillidse, persons who consult this book 

 should bear in mind. 



2 Fifteen specimens, from California and Oregon. 



3 Eight specimens, from California. 



