8o8^^1 Bangs, -iVew Birds frojn Eastern North America. I 73 



SOME NEW RACES OF BIRDS FROM EASTERN 

 NORTH AMERICA. 



BY OUTRAM BANGS. 



A GREAT many of the common or conspicuous birds of eastern 

 North America were for the first time brought to the Ught of 

 science through Catesbj-'s fine plates and careful descriptions, and 

 a little later received binomial names from Linnaeus, often based 

 solely upon Catesby's magnificent work. The tApe localit)' of all 

 these is southern South Carolina. It is with such species that I 

 have principally to deal in the present paper, and it becomes 

 often a matter of difficulty to determine whether the original 

 name shall be restricted to the northern or the southern sub- 

 species, as southern South Carolina is in many instances neutral 

 ground ; the greater differentiation of the species taking place 

 both to the north and to the south, — that is in peninsular Flor- 

 ida, and again north of the lower Austral zone. 



In nearly every instance a bird whose breeding range along the 

 Atlantic tier of States extends over two or more of the principal 

 faunal zones separates off into tenable subspecies in accordance 

 ^rith the zones which it covers. In a few cases three subspecies 

 are recognized, as with the Hain,- Woodpecker and the Purple 

 Grackle : but usually the breeding range of a species is not ex- 

 tensive enough to admit of more than two valid geographical 

 races. 



The three life areas potent in modifying the birds of eastern 

 North America are tlie Boreal, the Austral, and the Floridian,i 

 though the minor diA^sions of these more important faunal areas 

 often have an effect, though lesser, upon a species. 



In studying the races of our eastern birds one must of course 

 be sure one has breeding individuals, as migrants of many of tlie 

 northern forms are found in winter associated with the southern 



^ I use this name for the Tropical belt of south Florida and lower part of 

 lower Austral zone in Florida, as the range of the peninsular forms pecuUar 

 to Florida usually extends north beyond tropical limits. 



