Vol \w 



j.,i 3 ' SwAitTii, Slain:, of Lloyd's Bush-Tit. 399 



THE STATUS OF LLOYD'S BUSH TIT AS A BIRD OF 



ARIZONA. 



BY ii. s. BWABTH. 



The Santa Rita Bush-tit (Psaltriparus aantaritce) was described 

 by Ridgway (Proc. I'. s. Nat. Mu -.., X, 1888, p. 697) and remained 

 for some years in good standing in the American Ornithologists' 

 Union Check-List, as a species occurring In, and limited to, the 

 Santa Rita Mountain , Arizona. The principal characteristic of 

 the suppo ed species, as distinguished from P. plumbeus, was the 

 pre ence of a dusky line on the sides of 1 be bead, over t be auriculars. 



During several seasons collecting in southern Arizona the writer 

 collected a fairly extensive series of bush-tits, keeping a careful 

 lookout foT /'. aaritaritcBt which, bowever, for some time he failed 

 to End. Finally, in the summer of 1903, specimens were taken in 

 the Santa Rita Mountains which answered I be de icription, bul they 

 proved to be birds in juvenal plumage. In one or two instances 

 adults, obviously in attendance upon these young birds, were 

 collected, and these proved to be plumbeus; in other cases flocks 

 from which examples of " santaritce" were secured, were carefully 

 scrutinized without revealing the presence of any individuals with 

 black head markings. Altogether the writer felt convinced that 

 the supposed Santa Rita Hush-tit was in reality the immature 

 plumage of /'. //Inn/bens, and so stated in a paper on t be birds of t he 

 Santa Rita .Mountains (Condor, 7, 1905, p. SI J. 



In the meantime Mr. Oberbolser had published a, synopsis of the 

 genus Psaltriparus (Auk, XX, L903, pp. L98 201), in which be made 

 the following statemenl (p. 200) in regard to the disputed species. 

 "The type of Mr. Ridgway's Psaltriparus santaritce Is an immature 



male of lloydi, a | a careful cxaininat ion shows, and it can be easily 

 matched by VOUng male specimens from any part of the range of 

 the latter." 



In accordance wiih this idea the third (1912) edition of the A. O. 

 !'. Check-List (p. 353) ^i\«-s the range of Psaltriparus melanosis 

 Uoydi as including southeastern Arizona, presumably upon Ober- 

 holser's itatemenl quoted above. 



