66 



XDUTII AMEUICAX DIIIDS. 



r? 



Fasserella townsendi, var. schistacea, r>AiKn. 



Panserclla sc/Miicca, Haiiih, Itiids X. Am. 1858, 490, pi. l.\ix, f. 3. 



CiiAii. Hill slfiuler, iho k'ligtli being Ml I'rom nostril, tlio (k'ptli .2.") ; the tippor 



iniindihli) iiiiicli .swollen at tlu; ba.se ; tiie under 

 yellow. Above ami on the .side.s wnilbrni .^lato 

 gray; the up|ii!r surface of wing.s, tail-leathers, 

 and upper covert.s dark brownisli-nirou.s ; ear- 

 covert.>( .streaked with white. JJeneatli pure 

 white, with l>road triangular arrow-shaped and 

 well-delined spots of slate-gray like the baek 

 everywhere, exeept along tiie middle of the belly ; 

 not numerous on the throat. A hoary .spot at tlie 

 ba.se of the bill above the loral region; axillars 

 nearly white. Length, 0.80; wing,;5.30; tail, a.oO. 

 IIaii. noad--water.s of Platte and middle region of United States to Fort Tejon and to 

 Fort Crook, California. 



This .s])eeii'.s i.s readily (li.stiiigiii.slKMl from P. iliara by tlie .slaty back and 

 spots on the breast, tlie absence of streaks above, and the longer claws. From 

 townsendi it (lifters in having the liead, back, sides, and spots beneath slate- 

 colored, in.stead of dark reddish-brown. The spotting beneath is much more 

 sparse, the spots smaller, more triiingular, and confined to the terminal 

 portion of the feather.s, instead of freiiuently involving the entire onter edge. 

 The a.xilkrs are jjaler. The wings and tail are the same in both sj)ecies. 



The yoinig bird is t[iiite similar; but the s]»ots beneath are badly defined, 

 more numerous, and longitudinal rather than triangular. 



There can be little doulit, however, that this bird is a geographical race 

 of P. townsi'uili 



HAnns. For all that we know in regard to the habits and general distri- 

 buti(tn of this species, we are imlebted to the observations of ]Mr. Kidgway, 

 who met with it while accomi)anying Mr. Clarence King's geological survey. 

 It was first obtained in July, 185G, by Lieutenant F. T. Bryan, on the I'latte 

 Eiver, ind others were afterwards collected at Fort Tejon by Mr. Xantus. 



Mr. Itidgway found the Slate-colored Sparrow at Carson City, during its 

 spring migrations northward, in the early part of March. At this time it 

 was seen only among tlie willows along the Carson lUver, and was by no 

 means common. It had the habit of scratching among the dead leaves, on 

 the ground in the thickets, precisely after the manner of the eastern P. iliaca. 

 In the following September he again found it among the thickets in the 

 Upper Humboldt Valley. In I'arley's Park, among the Wahsatch Moun- 

 tains, he found it a very plentiful species in June, nesting among the wil- 

 lows and other shrubbery along the streams. There it was always found in 

 company with the M.fallax, which in song it greatly resembles, though its 

 other notes are quite distinct, the ordinary one being a sharp cUuch. The 



