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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS 
IN 
ZOOLOGY 
Vol. 17, No. 17, pp. 505-515, 3 figures in text May 4, 1918 
THE SUBSPECIES OF THE MOUNTAIN 
CHICKADEE 
BY 
JOSEPH GRINNELL 
(Contribution from the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology of the University of California) 
Fieldwork was carried on by the California Museum of Vertebrate 
Zoology during 1917 in the Inyo region of eastern California. In 
going over the collection of birds obtained, the attention of the writer 
was arrested by certain peculiarities evident in the Mountain Chicka- 
dees. Comparison with series from the Sierras showed the Inyo birds 
to be paler colored and longer tailed; and in order to appraise these 
differences in taxonomic terms it became necessary to assemble ma- 
terial representative of the entire range of the species, in so far as 
possible. The results of the study thus undertaken are presented 
herewith. 
The material involved in the inquiry has amounted to 464 skins 
of the Mountain Chickadee, derived from the following sources other 
than the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: United States National 
Museum, through Dr. Charles W. Richmond; United States Biological 
Survey, through Mr. Edward W. Nelson; and the private collections 
of Messrs. Edward R. Warren, Joseph and John W. Mailliard, 
G. Frean Morcom, Harry S. Swarth, and J. Grinnell. 
As of general interest, and in the nature of an introduction to the 
systematic analysis to follow, it may be stated that Penthestes gambeli 
including its subspecies is throughout its range non-migratory, save 
as a few individuals in pairs or small companies occasionally descend 
in fall or early winter to lower levels closely adjacent to their moun- 
tain habitats. The range of the species roughly extends from and 
includes the Rocky Mountains to or nearly to the Pacifie Coast, and 
from Alberta and British Columbia south nearly to the Mexican line— 
somewhat south of it in northern Lower California. Within this gen- 
eral area the Mountain Chickadee is by no means uniformly distrib- 
