^"^gif"^^] SwARTH, California Forms of Fsaltripr.rus. 519 



by any external influence. The Raymond specimens may be 

 regarded as unquestionably illustrating the same plumage after 

 subjection to the extreme effects of fading, but before excessive 

 abrasion reduces all the feathers to the uniformly dirty and undis- 

 tinctive appearance seen in midsummer specimens. 



The differences shown in these two series is little less than start- 

 ling, being quite as great, though of a different nature, than those 

 distinguishing certain subspecies, or even species, in the genus. 

 In the October birds the general effect is of dark gray and slaty 

 tones, with no suggestion of brown anywhere. To speak exactly, 

 the tops of the heads of these birds (as described elsewhere in this 

 paper) are variously fuscous and chsetura drab. In the Raymond 

 (spring) birds the dark gray and slaty body colors have become a 

 clearer gray above, and nearly pure white beneath, while the pileum 

 is buffy-brown. With the two extremes brought suddenly to the 

 attention, it is hard to realize that the observed differences are 

 merely seasonal changes, such as are undergone by any one indi- 

 vidual during the year; but that this is the case is forcibly proven 

 by the comparable changes traced through the seasons in the ex- 

 tensive series of minimus from the San Diegan district, as previ- 

 ously described, as well as by certain examples of caUfornicus show- 

 ing intermediate stages. 



Of the numerous specimens at hand from Tulare and Kern 

 counties, in the southern Sierras, the majority are juveniles, and 

 the comparatively few adults are either in very worn plumage or 

 are undergoing the annual molt. The entire series, both old and 

 young, shows to an extreme degree the pale coloration of this race, 

 and placed in apposition to a comparable series of minimus, the 

 difference is strikingly apparent. Sierran birds present the utmost 

 degree of gra\iiess reached in the subspecies caUfornicus, equalled 

 only by specimens from the Warner Mountains. Sacramento 

 Valley birds are slightly darker, the difference being more notice- 

 able in adults than in the young. Juvenals from the Sierras and 

 from the Sacramento Valley are practically indistinguishable. 



There are three specimens at hand (Richardson coll., nos. 1023, 

 1025, 1031) collected in the Piute Mountains, Kern County, No- 

 vember 26, 1907. This small mountain range is a southern outpost 

 of the Sierra Nevada, and it is notew orthy that these birds, in fresh 



