204 Allen on T-ivo Su/js/>ecies of Seaside SparroTv. [July 



DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO NEW SUBSPECIES OF 



THE SEASIDE SPARROW {AMMODRAMUS 



MAR I TIM US). 



BY J. A. ALLEN. 



Mr. W. E. D. Scott, of Tarpon Springs, Florida, sent to me 

 recently for examination an interesting series of Seaside and 

 Sharp-tailed Sparrows, taken at Tarpon Springs, Feb. 28, iSSS. 

 The Sharp-tailed Sparrows, six in number, diller very appre- 

 ciably from New Jersey and Long Island specimens, being 

 smaller, and having the streaks on the breast heavier and more 

 sharply defined, but they are perhaps hardly ditTerent enough from 

 the northern birds to require recognition by name. 



The two Seaside Sparrows are intermediate between Am??to- 

 dranius ?naritimus and A. nigrescens., but approach the latter 

 more nearly than the former. They suggest that material from 

 other points may eventually bridge the gap between these two 

 forms, and that A. nigrescens will prove to be merely a sub- 

 species of ^. niaritlmus., ?i% it was originally described by Mr. 

 Ridgway. For the present the TarjDon Springs birds may be 

 recognized as 



Ammodramus maritimus peninsulae, subsp. nov. Scott's 

 Seaside Sparrow. 



Subsp. Char. —Adult ? (Tarpon Springs, Fla., Feb. 28, 1SS8; W. E. 

 D. Scott) : — Similar to A. nigrescens in size and proportions, and in the 

 size and form of the bill. Above the feathers are centrally dull brown- 

 ish, edged broadly with olive and gray. Below with narrow black streaks 

 on the breast and flanks, much narrower and less sharply defined than in 

 A. nig-j-escens, but much stronger and much more sharply defined than in 

 A. maritimus in any phase of plumage. Throat and abdominal region 

 white; rest of underparts suffused with brownish ash, streaked with 

 blackish. Wing, 2.20; tail, 2.00; tarsus, .83; culmen, from base .52. 



Types, No. 31,209 and 31,210, females, Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., New York 

 City, [and No. 2600, ,J, Coll. A. K. Fisher]. 



Habitat. — Southwestern Florida (Tarpon Springs and Cedar 

 Keys), [and Louisiana (Grand Isle) ]. 



Through the kindness of Mr. William Brewster I have been 

 able to compare the birds from Tarpon Springs with his large 



