242 Bird - Lore 



Black-throated Sparrow {Amphispiza bilineata, Fig. 4). — In juvenal 

 plumage there is an entire absence of the black face and throat, but the white 

 line over the eye is present; the back, which is browner than in the adult, 

 is obscurely, and the breast more distinctly streaked with grayish black or 

 dusky; the greater wing-coverts are broadly edged with brownish buff. 



The black-throated adult plumage is assumed at the first (postjuvenal) 

 molt, and the only effect of wear and fading on the winter dress is the gradual 

 disappearance of the brownish buff shading of the flanks and crissum. The 

 female, in all plumages, is indistinguishable from the male. 



The typical form of this species, the Black-throated Sparrow proper 

 (A. b. bilineata), is the easternmost form of the genus, ranging from north- 

 eastern Mexico north into northern middle Texas. It is characterized by 

 the large size of the white spots on the outer tail-feathers. 



The Desert Sparrow (A. b. deserticola) inhabits the arid plains from western 

 Texas to California, north to Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, and south into 

 northern Mexico. A third race, slightly smaller and browner, is confined to 

 Mexico. 



Sage Sparrow (Amphispiza nevadens is, Fig. 5). — The young of this species 

 is conspicuously streaked both above and below with grayish black. At the 

 postjuvenal molt it becomes practically indistinguishable from the adults. 

 There is apparently no spring molt, and the summer plumage scarcely differs 

 from that of winter. The female resembles the male in coloration. 



Three races of the Sage Sparrow are recognized. The typical, that is, the 

 first-described form (A. n. nevadensis), breeds "from central Washington, 

 central Idaho and central Wyoming, south to southeastern California and 

 southern Colorado." This is much the largest of the three races. The Gray 

 Sage Sparrow (A. n. cinerea) inhabits the western coast of Lower California. 

 The California Sage Sparrow (.4. n. canescens) is confined to "Owen's Valley 

 and adjacent areas in eastern California and extreme western Nevada." 



Bell's Sparrow (Amphispiza belli, Fig. 6). — Bell's Sparrow is found in 

 the "valleys and foothills of California, west of Sierra Nevada, and Colo- 

 rado Desert from about latitude 38 south to northwestern Lower California." 

 This species is closely related to the Sage Sparrow, differing in much darker 

 coloration, but agreeing in the pattern, molts and sequence of its plumages. 



