488 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



passerine birds, and have been recorded from many 

 species. Picaglia (1. c., p. 16) lists 43 species of Euro- 

 pean Passeres from which communis has been collected. 

 But the variations exhibited by the specimens from the 

 various bird species are many and sometimes striking. 

 Giebel refers to variations exhibited by specimens from 

 certain birds as being sufficient to warrant the founding 

 of new species, but he merely refers to the general char- 

 acter of the variation shown by specimens from Tardus 

 pilaris, Paras major, Fringilla c/iloris, and Motacilla 

 alba. He lists 29 passerine birds representing 15 genera 

 on which communis had been found at time of his writing. 

 Piaget holds to the single species communis, referring to 

 the variations apparent in any series of specimens, and 

 describes and gives varietal names to 11 varieties. He 

 selects the form found on Motacilla alba as typical of the 

 species (believing it to be the same as found by Nitzsh 

 on Fringilla linaria) and lists nearly 20 passerine bird 

 species on which he has found communis and its varieties. 

 I have collected specimens of this communis species or 

 group of species from the following American passerine 

 birds: the Horned Lark, Otocoris alpestris; Red-winged 

 Blackbird, Agelaius pluvuiceus; Western Meadowlark, 

 Sturnella magna neglecta; Lapland Longspur, Calcarius 

 lapponicus; Slate-colored Junco, f unco hy emails ; Cardinal 

 Grosbeak, Cardinalis cardinalis; Bohemian Waxwing, 

 Ampelis garrulus; White-rumped Shrike, Lan / 'us ludo- 

 vicianus excubi tor ides; Brown Thrasher, Harporhynchus 

 rufous; and the Robin, Merula migraioria — all from 

 Lawrence, Kansas; and also from Bullock's Oriole, 

 Icterus bullock i ; the California Purple Finch, Carpo- 

 dacus purpureus calif ornicus ; the House Finch, Carpo- 

 dacus mexicanus frontalis ; the Pine Siskin, Spinas pin us ; 

 the Arkansas Goldfinch, Spin/is psattria; and the Sand- 



