'SS4.I Hensh.wv oh II AVtf So)i>r S/trrrozf. 22 ^ 



witliin the tropics, our northern species were undoulitecllv amonj^ 

 the prisoners, and. with tlie throngs of other migrants, ucquiretl 

 the hal)it of pushing each spring towards the receding barrier, 

 returning in the fall to a more congenial clime. But being a 

 stronger and hardier class, these birds soon became aware that 

 there was for them no necessits^ for a southern journcv as extended 

 as their allies were obliged to take. 



Evidently the migratory habit, once so strong, is becoming dor- 

 mant among some species, and onlv upon the sudden occurrence 

 of- intense cold is it awakened sufficienth' to exert anv influence 

 whatever o\ er the more rugged northern species. 



Exceptional movements certainly occur, but owing to the high 

 ornithological interest and conspicuousness of these northern spe- 

 cies — -coming at a time when other bird-life is absent — their 

 movements are oftener recorded and are much more noticeable 

 than similar ones among our commoner birds at seasons when 

 'each pitch of woodland is filled with the notes of its hundreds of 

 feathered occupants. 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SONG SPARROW FROM 



THE SOUTHERX BORDER OF THE UNITED 



STATES. 



BV H. W. HEXSHAW 



Ix 1S74 I collected several Song Sparrows in the southern 

 portion of Arizona, which appeared to differ remarkabh" from 

 those obtained to the northward in various portions of the Great 

 Basin. Being under the impression that these specimens repi^e- 

 sented merelv the extreme degree of variation of the interior race, 

 thev were labelled jfal/ax and passed by. Since then I have 

 seen other specimens from this region, and especiallv a series of 

 twenty-one collected, at my request, at Tucson by my friend 

 Mr. E. W. Nelson. From a comparison of all these with the 

 verv extensive series of Song Sparrows from the interior of the 

 United States, contained in the National collection and in mv 

 own Mjjseum* I am satisfied that there exist two well-defined races 

 in the Great Basin, where hitherto there has been supposed to be 

 but one. One of these is. of course, the fa//ax of Baird. The 



