2)Q2 Oberholser, Critical Notes on Auriparus. \o^ 



tinged with tawn>' olive, the head washed with olive yellow; a few 

 wholly yellow feathers on the crown. Wings and tail light brown, of a 

 shade approaching broccoli brown, the feathers nearly all narrowly 

 margined with paler; bend of wing burnt sienna. Sides of head like the 

 back, but mixed with many feathers of the new plumage ; lower parts 

 soiled white, slightly suffused with dull yellow on the breast, and with a 

 few bright yellow feathers visible on the chin and throat. 



This form is distinguished from Xxno, flaviceps by its very much 

 shorter tail, somewhat shorter wing, and by the brighter tint 

 of the yellow of the head, particularly that on the forehead and 

 anterior portion of the crown. This clearness of the yellow of 

 the head, though not entirely constant, is apparently an excellent 

 average character. 



In two of the five adult males examined there is a noticeable 

 rufous patch on the forepart of the crown, and in one of these 

 two birds it is quite well defined. In the three other speci- 

 mens, including the type, the bases of the feathers on this part of 

 the crown show more or less of rufous, which, however, does not 

 appear unless the plumage be disturbed. The type and one of 

 the others are quite strongly tinged with yellow on the body 

 both above and below ; while in the remaining three this color is, 

 except on the rump, barely evident posterior to the head and 

 throat. The general tone of the plumage above, exclusive of the 

 head, is very uniform in three of the specimens ; somewhat 

 darker in one of the others, and slightly browner in the remaining 

 example. A young bird in the U. S. National Museum collection, 

 supposed to be from Santa Margarita Island, Lower California, is 

 darker above than the specimen here described, but is not other- 

 wise importantly dissimilar. As this bird was skinned from 

 alcohol its different color may be due to the chemical action of 

 the preservative. 



Mr. Bryant included southern Arizona and southern California in 

 the range of his western race {loc. cit.), but with the series of Ari- 

 zona and Texas specimens now available (some 65 in all) it seems 

 impossible satisfactorily to separate the birds from these localities. 

 It is true that the birds from Texas are slightly larger, and, even 

 in very young plumage, appear to average rather darker than those 

 from Arizona, but the difference is very slight and inconstant. 



