118 University of California Puhlications in Zoology [Vol. 21 



in question arrive from the northwest together with the other fox 

 sparrows with which they are found associated. My personal convic- 

 tion is that they hail from, an intermediate locality, or localities, 

 between the ranges of typical iliaoa of the interior of Alaska and those 

 of some of the Unalaschcensis subspecies of the coast. Some of the 

 specimens described in this paper, together with certain variants of 

 insularis and unalaschcensis at hand, form, both in color and propor- 

 tions, a graded series connecting the extremes by such short steps 

 that any dividing line between the two must be arbitrarily drawn. 

 Then, too, the reddish coloration of these birds is of an appreciably 

 darker shade than in the few Atlantic coast winter birds available 

 for comparison, tending more toward the color of the Unalaschcensis 

 subspecies. The more grayish-backed birds may represent a step 

 toward altivagans. I can not agree with the opinion that the character 

 of" any of these birds points toward interbreeding of iliaca with 

 schistacea (see Grinnell, 1915, p. 130). 



Beside the California birds described, there are two other specimens 

 from unusual localities. One is a female (no. 2524, coll. J. Eugene 

 Law) taken by A. Van Rossem in Pinery Canon, at 6000 feet, Chiri- 

 cahua Mountains, Arizona, November 6, 1914. This specimen, here 

 placed on record, comprises the first recorded occurrence of the sub- 

 species in Arizona. It is extremely close to typical iliaca, differing 

 mainly in its more uniform dorsal coloration, the back being quite 

 grayish, and the dorsal streakings but poorly defined. This may be 

 indicative of intermediateness between iUaca and altivagans. The 

 second specimen is a male (no. 967, Provincial Museum, Victoria, 

 B. C), collected by John Fannin at Sicamous, British Columbia, 

 September 25, 1893. This bird is absolutely indistinguishable from 

 selected eastern examples of iliaoa. 



The California specimens of iliaca are too few in number to 

 indicate any definite manner of occurrence in any specified area, 

 but it seems unquestionable that some individuals of this subspecies 

 winter each year within the borders of the state. Most of the speci- 

 mens taken are from the San Diego region (where, however, there has 

 been more winter collecting of fox sparrows than anywhere else in 

 California), and as these were all secured between October 31 and 

 March 22, they may be assumed to have been in their winter home. 

 The specimens taken in December in Monterey and Alameda counties, 

 and in January and February in Marin County, indicate the prob- 

 ability of the winter habitat including the whole coastal area north 



