IF 



"i 





■i ■ 



72 



MONOGRAPHS 01-" NOUTII AMKUlCAN UODKSTIA. 



leucopus, and this is pnrticulariy evident in those from tlie open, dryer piuts 

 of Southern Ciiliforiiin, and especially such examples as No. 7185 from the 

 Colorado Ucsert region, where the coloration is a hrisk fulvous, without dorsal 

 stripe. But nearly all the specimens can he matched by eastern examples ; 

 and, moreover, all the northern ones are actually darker than average leucopus, 

 while most of them show a distinct doisal stripe. " J'//e entire outside of llir 

 fore leg below the shoulder white I" In a part of the specimens this is so, and in 

 another part of the specimens it is not so; and the same is the case with ordi- 

 nary leucopus. It is evident, therefore, that the characters ascribed to the 

 suppo.sed "gambeli" fall to the ground. 



Passing now to another Pacific-coast species, so-called, we will premise 

 that in establishing his //. "austerus", Professor Baird intimated his suspicion 

 that it might not prove valid. "It is barely possible," he says, "that my //. 

 austerus may be a northern variety of the common Califbrnian species" (/». e., 

 "gambeli"), "of smaller size and darker color, somewhat like the gray and 

 smaller //. leucopus of Nova Scotia and probably Labrador, * * and further 

 materials will be necessary to decide the question." With the necessary addi- 

 tional material before us, we cannot only confirm tiie suggestion here mode, 

 but we can also show a perfect intcrgradation between "gambeli" and "aus- 

 terus"; a melting of this last into "boylii"; and, finally, the positive identity 

 of "boylii" with "myoides", which last we have proved to be the same as 

 leucopus. 



The Simiahmoo specimens, which arc, as we have just shown, referable 

 to "gambeli", are so much darker than "gambeli" from the dry, open parts 

 of California, that they stand rather nearer "austerus" in color than to 

 the former examples of the species they are supposed to belong to! 

 Color thus giving us nothing tangible, we will interrogate dimensions, and see 

 if these show anything of specific value. We accordingly present a short 

 table ; most of our samples of supposed "austerus" being immature, and 

 therefore excluded as tending to vitiate the result. 



