86 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 21 



written in 1878 by H. W. Henshaw "On the species of the genus 

 Passerella. " While the series of specimens at his disposal must have 

 been relatively meager, his treatment of the various forms is wonder- 

 fully in accord with the facts as learned from subsequent discoveries ; 

 and, in the light of our present knowledge of the subject, it is intensely 

 interesting to note the pertinence and accuracy of Henshaw 's critical 

 comments upon the specimens he handled. The present writer could 

 hope for no better fate for his own paper than to have such tentative 

 hypotheses and suggestions as he has ventured to offer as fully justified 

 by later discoveries. 



In contrast with Henshaw 's remarks attention may be called to 

 Coues' (1874, pp. 162, 163) deprecatory and rather pessimistic inclina- 

 tion ' ' to doubt the distinctness of any of the currently reputed species 

 of Passerella," without in any way aiding to unravel the puzzle. His 

 statement {loc. cit.) that "in any event P. 'schistacea' goes with 

 townsendii as a paler variety," is obscure as an expression of belief, 

 and, in any interpretation, by no means as final an expression of 

 relationships as the wording would imply it to be. 



In 1895 Anthony described Passerella iliaca stephensi, a large- 

 billed variant of megarhynchus from the San Jacinto Mountains, 

 southern California. In 1899 Ridgway described Passerella iliaca 

 fuliginosa, an extremely dark colored bird of the towmsendi style, 

 from Neah Bay, Washington. In this same j-ear (1899) there 

 occurred the Harriman Expedition to Alaska, and the fox sparrows 

 collected at various points by the naturalists participating resulted 

 in a much better understanding of the variation occurring within this 

 species. In 1900 Ridgway, a member of the above-mentioned expedi- 

 tion, described Passerella iliaca insiilaris from Kodiak Island, and 

 Passerella iliaca annectens from Yakutat Bay, giving at the same 

 time (1900, p. 30) a brief statement of the ranges of the five sub- 

 species he recognized from the northwest coast. 



The next year, 1901, there appeared the first volume of Ridgway 's 

 "Birds of North and Middle America," dealing with the Fringillidae, 

 and including the diagnoses of the nine subspecies of Passerella iliaca 

 recognized by that author. These were as follows: iliaca (northern 

 and eastern North America), imalaschcensis (Shumagin Islands and 

 Alaska Peninsula), insularis (Kadiak Island), annectens (Yakutat 

 Bay region), towmsendi (coast of extreme southern Alaska), fuliginma 

 (coast of British Columbia, Vancouver Island, and Puget Sound), 



