THE AUK: 



A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF 



ORNITHOLOGY. 

 vol. xiii. October, 1896. no. 4. 



THE SHARP-TAILED SPARROW {AMMODRAMUS 



CAUDACUTUS) AND ITS GEOGRAPHICAL 



RACES. 



BY JONATHAN DWIGHT, JR. 



Plate IV. 



The Sharp-tailed Sparrow is a bird that can boast of con- 

 siderable antiquity among North American species and it has 

 been figured more than once by early writers, but the two geo- 

 graphical races that have been described of late years are now 

 figured for the first time on the accompanying plate. The spe- 

 cific name dates from 1788, when the bird was called by Gmelin 

 Oriolus caudacutus (Gmelin, Syst. Nat., I, pt. i., 1788, 394). 

 His description, however, is practically a translation into Latin 

 of Pennant's description of a bird he calls the Sharp-tailed Ori- 

 ole (Pennant, Arctic Z06L, II, 1785, 261), which Latham also 

 describes (Latham, Synop. Birds, I, pt. 2, 1782, 448, pi. xvii), 

 giving a fairly recognizable colored plate and stating that he is 

 indebted to Pennant for the drawing of the bird as well as for the 

 description. Neither Pennant nor Latham made use of any 

 scientific name and therefore Gmelin becomes the authority for 



