194 XATUEAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA.. 



Continuing, Mr. Henshaw quotes Baird and Eidgway on insignis as follows: 



Between M. melodia of the Atlantic States and M. insignis of Kodiak the difference seems wide, bat the con- 

 necting links in the inter-regions hridge this over so completely that, with a series of hundreds of specimens before 

 us, we abandon the attempt at specific separation. 



Mr. Henshaw adds: 



It needs but a glance to determine that the var. rufina is nearer insignis by many degrees than the mdodia of the 

 east, and, as has been indicated, nothing is wanting in the chain of evidence to establish the connection between 

 rufina and melodia. But while admitting a possibility, perhaps even probability, that the relations between insignis 

 and rufina may be as close as that of races, we feel justified in asserting that the intergradatiou necessary to estab- 

 lish this cannot be shown from the material accumulated up to the present time. Measurements appended below 

 demonstrate that between the largest specimens of rufina in the collection and the smallest insignis there is a by no 

 means inconsiderable gap. Nor does there appear to be any known law of geographical variation by which this dis- 

 crepancy of size can be accounted for. 



The law of increase of size with increased latitude, while applying to the preceding members of this group, fails 

 of application in the case oi insignis; since Sitka, the metropolis o£ rufina, is in the same latitude with Kodiak, that of 

 insignis; while one specimen of rvfina, and that by no means the largest, is present from Lituya Bay, which is slightly 

 farther north than Kodiak. 



And lie might have added that Sitka is farther north than a large portion of the Aleutian 

 Island chain, a great portion of the habitat of insignis thus being south of the center of abundance 

 of rufina. Our author adds: 



Possibly its insular habitat may be deemed sufficient to account for the marked peculiarities of this giant among 

 Sparrows. So far, in fact, as color is concerned, although in this respect insignis is well marked, the step from rufina 

 appears an inconsiderable one as compared with that of size. But, as has been stated, no intermediate specimens 

 are at hand to prove such a close relationship. 



The author concludes that cinerea should be allowed to retain its former position as a distinct 

 species pending the collection of further evidence. The true relationship of this form requires for 

 its satisfactory, determination a considerable amount of material from the region where it meets 

 rufina. M. cinerea is an abundant resident of the Near Islands, and birds from there, according 

 to Dr. Bean, have considerably smaller bills than those from the eastern part of its range. 



In the National Museum collection are various interesting stages of plumage, upon the most 

 interesting of which I subjoin remarks, prefacing the notes by stating that there are three well 

 marked plumages exhibited— the spring and fall adults and the young of the year in fall. 



The adult plumage of fall birds from Unalaska differs from the spring plumage in having a 

 greater amount of rufous on the crown, back, edges of the wing-feathers, and on the tail. In the 

 spring bird these parts are dull ashy-gray, nearly uniform, excepting where the slightly darker- 

 brown centers of the feathers on the back break the uniformity. The rump in spring is ashy -brown 

 and is olive or fulvous-brown in fall. The rusty-brown of the spots on the breast in spring birds, 

 and the ashy on the sides, the large amount of white or ashy -white of throat, breast, and abdomen, 

 all give place in fall to the greatly enlarged reddish centers of the neck and breast feathers, and 

 the large fulvous-brown areas on the sides, which latter color extends as a wash over most of the 

 abdomen, so that the birds of the two seasons appear quite different when laid side by side. The 

 young birds of the first autumn are to be known by their uniformly dark coloration and the obso- 

 lete character of the markings on the back. In some specimens the dark centers are almost 

 entirely absent, as are the chestnut crown markings, which are usually dark brown in the young. 

 Kadiak birds average slightly darker than those from Unalaska and the Aleutian chain, 



A young male, two-thirds grown, taken July 15, 1872, on Kyska Island, by Mr. DaU, has 

 the crown and nape plumbeous ashy, with a dingy fulvous-brown wash, which is much darker 

 along each side of the crown, outlining the indistinct chestnut stripes of the adult. Feathers of 

 back each with a dark blackish- brown shaft marking on terminal half of the feather, and bordered 

 with dull fulvous-brown, which occupies the rump and outer tail-coverts except for the narrow, 

 dark tip seen on some of the rump feathers. Wings and tail dark brown, considerably darker 

 than in the adult. The tertials are edged exteriorly with dark ruions, which also borders the other 

 wing-feathers with a duller shade of the same, and extends even to the coverts. The rufous 

 of the coverts, however, is shaded with a light brownish buff, which forms an indistinct tip 

 to coverts aud tertials. The tail-feathers are edged with dark rustv-red, shaded with brown. The 

 feathers of the rump in one specimen have fine blackish shaft-lines. The superciliary liue is dull 

 ashy, each feather with a reddish-brown shaft-line. The auricular patch dull reddish-brown, mot- 



