Notes on the Plumage of North American Sparrows 



TWENTIETH PAPER 

 By FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



(See Frontispiece) 



Fox Sparrow {Passerella iliaca iliaca, Fig. i). The nestling Fox Sparrow 

 is much like the adult in general appearance, but is more streaked below and 

 the head shows no trace of gray, being of essentially the same color as the 

 back. At the postjuvenal molt, the wing and tail-feathers are retained, the 

 body feathers shed, and the young bird now resembles the adult. 



There is apparently no marked spring molt, and the slightly grayer color 

 of the breeding plumage is due to wear. 



The Fox Sparrows, although not so widely distributed during the breed- 

 ing season, are subject to even more pronounced racial variations in color 

 than are the Song Sparrows. Eight geographical varieties have been des- 

 cribed, the more pronounced of which are figured in the frontispiece. Their 

 ranges are given as follows in the 1910 edition of the A.O.U. 'Check-List': 



Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca iliaca). 



Range. — North America. Breeds in Boreal zones from tree limit in north- 

 eastern Alaska, northern Mackenzie, central Keewatin, northern Ontario 

 (Moose Factory), and northern Ungava, south to central Alberta, northern 

 Manitoba, southern Keewatin, Magdalen Islands, and Newfoundland; winters 

 from lower Ohio and Potomac valleys (occasionally farther north) to central 

 Texas and northern Florida; casual on the coast of southern Alaska and in 

 California. 



Shumagin Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca unalaschcensis) . 



Range. — Unalaska Island, Alaska Peninsula, and Shumagin Islands; 

 winters south to northern California. 



Thick-billed Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca megarhyncha) . 



Range. — Mountains of California. Breeds in Transition Zone on both 

 slopes of the Sierra Nevada from Mt. Shasta to Mt. Whitney; winters in south- 

 western California; casual in Marin County. 



Slate-colored Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca schistacea). 



Range. — Rocky Mountain region of United States. Breeds in Transition 

 Zone from interior of British Columbia and northwestern Montana south to 

 the mountains of Lassen and Modoc Counties, northeastern California, to 

 the White Mountains of eastern California, and to central Colorado; winters 

 south to southwestern California, Arizona, and New Mexico, and east to 

 Kansas. 



Stephens' Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca stephensi). 



Range. — Southern California. Breeds in the Tejon, San Gabriel, San 

 Bernardino, and San Jacinto Mountains. 



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