82 BULLETIN OF THE NUTTALL 



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difference does exist in this species between specimens from the 



country eastward of the Alleghanies and those from the Western 

 States of the Eastern Sub-region, for not only does the ample series 

 of specimens examined indicate such a difference, but evidence ac- 

 cumulated by correspondence confirms it. After examining all the 

 material accessible I deemed it prudent, in order to make sure that 

 the variations noted were not in part of an individual character, to 

 call the attention of others to the subject. Accordingly, a pair of 

 the western form (from Southern Illinois), in spring plumage, of 

 which the male was unusually bright, were despatched to Mr. 

 William Brewster, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the request 

 that they be compared with his New England series, as well as with 

 other local collections in Cambridge, while at the same time a typical 

 example of the eastern style was mailed to Mr. E. W. Nelson, of 

 Chicago, Illinois, with the same request. The replies of these gen- 

 tlemen have been received, and fully establish my previous conclu- 

 sion that the differences were strictly geographical. Mr. Brewster's 

 letter reads as follows : — 



" I have very carefully compared the birds sent with my series 

 of twenty Massachusetts specimens, and find that they differ widely 

 from any that I have ever taken here. The decided yellow of the 

 entire under parts and the chestnut markings are constant in our 

 bird, and subject to but a limited amount of variation, and this 

 chiefly sexual. The dullest fall female in my series is much brighter 

 beneath than your spring male. Again, your birds are clear brown 

 above, from the occiput to the rump, while mine all have a greenish- 

 yellow cast ; the lower eyelid in your specimens is white, while in 

 mine it is as decidedly yellow as the superciliary stripe ; and, lastly, 

 the markings on the lower parts, though more numerous, are brown 

 instead of chestnut, and of a different shape, being mostly linear 



instead of tear-shaped A pair of these birds from Florida 



agree very well with your specimens, after making due allowance for 

 difference of season, they being winter birds. I saw at a glance 

 that the birds you sent were totally different in color from any that 

 are ever taken here, and as I have probably examined one hundred 

 Massachusetts specimens altogether, I can assure you positively 

 that the form you sent never occurs here at any season." 



Mr. Ruthven Deane, of Cambridge, also examined the pair sent 

 for inspection, and has this to say of them : " I have compared 

 your two specimens of D. palmarum with mine, and find that they 

 differ in the respects of which Mr. Brewster has written you. The 



