178 Bird -Lore 



probable that the individuals breeding in northern New Mexico remain at 

 their summer home through the winter, but the species is found at this season 

 in the southern part of that state. 



The Rock Sparrow {Aimophila r. eremoeca) breeds principally in Texas east 

 of the Pecos River, while a few birds range north to the Wichita Mountains, 

 Oklahoma. Though the species is partially migratory, and is found in winter 

 south to Puebla, several hundred miles south of the breeding-range, yet some 

 birds also remain at this season in northern Texas nearly to the northern limit 

 of the summer home. 



The fourthjform, the Laguna Sparrow {A. r. sororia), is a non-migratory 

 sub-species inhabiting the mountains of southern Lower California. 



Notes on the Plumage of North American Sparrows 



T-WENTY-SEVENTH PAPER 

 By FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



(See Frontispiece) 



Both range and habit tend to prevent the Sparrows figured in this issue of 

 Bird-Lore from being widely known. Confined for the greater part to our 

 southern border states, they do not, as a rule, enter the region where bird 

 students most abound, while their retiring habits and generally elusive ways 

 make them far from conspicuous, even in localities where they are common. I 

 have no personal knowledge of the more western species, but, if any of them 

 sing as sweetly as does our Pine-woods Sparrow (and its northern race, Bach- 

 man's Sparrow), it is indeed a pity that their voices should so rarely fall on 

 appreciative ears. 



As the frontispiece shows, even those birds of this group which are ranked 

 as species bear a close general resemblance to one another. The 'Check-List' 

 of the American Ornithologists' Union places them in two genera, Peuccea and 

 Aimophila, but Mr. Ridgway, in his great work on the 'Birds of North and 

 Middle America,' includes them all in Aimophila, proof that the exact degree 

 of their relationships is largely a matter of opinion. 



The molts of these birds have not, so far as I am aware, been minutely 

 studied, nor have we at this time sufficient material to go thoroughly into this 

 subject. It may be said, however, that in all the species the sexes are alike, 

 and there are no marked seasonal changes in color. 



The nestling always has the underparts more or less distinctly streaked. 

 These streaks are lost at the post-juvenal molt, and in our eastern species 

 (and doubtless also others) the young birds pass into a plumage (first winter) 

 which cannot be distinguished from that of the adult of the same season. The 

 differences between winter and summer plumage are largely due to wear. 



To this brief outline may be added a list of the species and races, with the 



