396 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 



buffy suffusion covering the breast." He mentions examining thirty 

 specimens. He also speaks of a small tuft of white feathers at the 

 base of the primary coverts. 



Reginald Heber Howe, Jr., gave the Labrador bird a subspecific 

 rank as Passerculus sandwichensis labradorius but this form was not 

 recognized by the American ornithologists' union. His description 

 is as follows: 



"Type, from Lance au Loup, Labrador, No. 4479, adult male. 

 Collection E. A. & O. Bangs. Collected May 17, 1899, by Ernest 

 Doane. 



"Geographical Range: Labrador. 



"Subspecific Characters : The largest of the Passerculus sandwich- 

 ensis races. Wings, tail and tarsi longer than in savanna. Bill shorter 

 and thicker. Upper parts uniform grayish black, with but little trace 

 of rufous. Distinct white median line on crown, and with a great 

 deal of bright yellow about the head. The eye line and ring, forehead, 

 lores and auriculars being strongly tinged. 



"Remarks: There is no difficulty in separating the two races 

 savanna and labradorius on account of the greater size of the latter, 

 their wing measurements showing no overlapping." 



He had at this time two adult birds from Labrador. 



We sent our specimens to Mr. Oberholser, at Washington, who 

 kindly examined them and wrote us as follows, under date of February 

 4, 1907: "The Savanna Sparrows I have compared carefully with 

 a large series in the collections here in Washington, and I cannot find 

 any substantial difference worth recognizing by name. It is true they 

 average very slightly darker and very slightly larger than more southern 

 birds, but the differences are altogether too slight and too inconstant, 

 in my opinion, to warrant their subspecific separation. Their dark 

 color is due in part to their worn condition, and in both this respect 

 and in size I can match them with southern breeding birds. 1 am 

 somewhat surprised myself, for I have always entertained a suspicion 

 that labradorius was a good race, though I have never before made 

 any actual comparison." 



