132 University of Calif omia Piiblioatians in Zoology [Vol. 21 



Passerella iliaca insularis Ridgway 

 Kadiak Fox Sparrow 



Original description. — Passerella iliaca insularis EidgAvay, 1900, p. 30. 



Type specimen. — No. 52475, U. S. Nat. Mus. ; male adult ; Kadiak, 

 Alaska ; May 17, 1868 ; collected by Ferdinand Bischoff. 



Range. — In summer, Kadiak Island, Alaska ; in winter, south along 

 the Pacific Coast to extreme southern California. 



Specimens examined. — 100 (see list, pp. 188-189). 



Distingimhing characters. — Of the Unalaschcensis group (see p. 

 89). Compared with fuligi/tiosa, townsendi, and ann^ctens, insularis 

 is of paler coloration, of slightly greater general size, and with a 

 notably larger bill. Compared with sinuosa and unalaschcensis, in- 

 sularis is of brighter, more ruddy coloration. The bill of insularis 

 is heavier than in sinuosa, about the bulk of that of unalaschcensis but 

 differently shaped (see fig. S). A specimen of insularis in juvenal 

 plumage at hand difi'ers from the corresponding stage in the neigh- 

 boring races sinuosa and annectens in just such color characters as 

 are shown in the adults. It is of a brighter hue than the darker red 

 annectens, and decidedly ruddy compared with the relatively grayish 

 young sinuosa. 



Remarks. — Insularis is apparently restricted in summer to Kadiak 

 Island. It has also been tentatively ascribed to Middleton Island, near 

 Prince William Sound (Ridgway, 1900, p. 30), but the two specimens 

 from this island that I have examined, and upon which this claim may 

 have been based, hardly justify this conclusion. These two birds are 

 not exactly alike, but to my mind they both most closely resemble the 

 subspecies sinuosa (see p. 136). 



The series of winter birds does not suffice for as explicit an out- 

 lining of the winter habitat as is possible with some of the related 

 subspecies, but there are, nevertheless, certain features of the distri- 

 bution at this season that seem fairly well demonstrated by the data 

 at hand. Judging from the few migrants secured at intervening 

 points, the Kadiak fox sparrow, like the other northern coast forms of 

 Passerella, apparently makes long, direct flights in its migrations to 

 and from the summer home. 



Once central California is reached, insularis does not seem to shun 

 the seacoast, as do its near relatives unalaschcensis and siniMsa; on 

 the contrary, it favors the coastal region and avoids the Sierras. 

 There are no specimens of insul-aris at hand from any point on the 

 California coast north of Marin County, though many Passerellas have 

 been examined from this section ; in Marin County insularis is a fairly 

 common winter visitant, but outnumbered by annectens. In the Sierra 



