THE AUK: 



A Q^UARTERLY JOURNAL OF 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



VOL. XIV. October, 1897. no. 4. 



THE WESTERN FIELD SPARROW {SPIZELLA 

 PUSILLA ARENACEA CHADBOURNE). 



BY CHARLES W. RICHMOND. 



Plate III. 



The Western Field Sparrow, illustrated in this number of 

 ' The Auk,' was first brought to the attention of ornithologists in 

 1886^ by Dr. Arthur P. Chadbourne, who characterized it from 

 two late autumn specimens collected at Laredo, Texas. Nothing 

 was then known of the breeding plumage or summer range of the 

 bird, but two years later Dr. C. Hart Merriam described ^ three 

 breeding specimens, all males, obtained by Mr. Vernon Bailey at 

 Fort Pierre, South Dakota, and Valentine, Nebraska. These 

 examples were found to be so unlike the eastern Field Sparrow 

 that Dr. Merriam was led to consider the western form specifically 

 distinct and designated it Spizella arenacea (Chadbourne). Sub- 

 sequent material, however, proved it to be of only subspecific 

 importance, and it has since held this rank in the ' Check-List.' 



The differences between the Western Field Sparrow and the 

 typical eastern bird are chiefly in the greater dimensions and 



' Auk, III, April, iSS6, 24S-249. 

 ^Auk, V, Oct., 1S88, 402-403. 



