162 Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 



Subspedfic characters. — In bill structure intermediate between Passer- 

 ella iliaca megarhyncha and P. i. stephensi. In megarhyncha the bill is 

 broad and stubby, in mariposae it is relatively long, with more attenuated 

 tip, just the same shape as in stephensi, but smaller. P. i. mariposae also 

 differs from megarhyncha in its more grayish coloration. It is closely 

 similar to stephensi in general appearance, save for the smaller bill; 

 similar to monoensis in general appearance, but with larger bill. Geog- 

 raphically and structurally mariposae occupies an intermediate position 

 between monoensis and stephensi. 



Remarks. — Through the courtesy of the authorities of the United States 

 National Museum I have been permitted to examine the type of Passer- 

 ella megarhynchus Baird. This bird (U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 12402) was 

 collected at Fort Tejon, California, by Xantus, and while no date of capture 

 is entered upon the label, it is obviously a winter collected specimen. 

 Passeretla i. megarhyncha is the "thick-billed sparrow" that is of most 

 common occurrence in winter in southern California, but, contrary to 

 previous belief, it is not the same as the "thick-billed sparrow" of the 

 Sierra Nevada. P. i. megarhyncha has a stubby biU, and is of relatively 

 brownish coloration; P. i. mariposae has a larger biU, more finely pointed, 

 and is distinctly gray in color. The type specimen of megarhyncha is rather 

 more grasdsh dorsaUy than the average of the race, but the shape of the 

 bill in this specimen is outside the range of variation in P. i. mariposae, 

 and exactly like that of the majority of the brown colored birds found 

 commonly in winter in southern Cahfomia. 



Passeretla i. mariposae, as shown by specimens at hand, occurs in 

 summer from the vicinity of Mount Shasta south along the Sierra Nevada, 

 on the west slope at least as far as the Yosemite region, on the east slope 

 to Kearsarge Pass. There^re a few winter examples of mariposae at hand 

 from the San Diegan district, California, but so few that it is evident that 

 these localities do not represent the main winter home of the race. On 

 the other hand, megarhyncha occurs in this section in winter in abundance, 

 but its breeding range is as yet not defined. 



Passeretla iliaca fulva, new subspecies. 



WARNER MOUNTAINS POX SPARROW. 



Type.—Advlt male; no. 14795, Mus. Vert. Zool.; Sugar HUl (5000 

 feet), Warner Mountains, Modoc County, CaUfornia; May 19, 1910; 

 collected by W. P. Taylor and H. C. Bryant; original number 2887. 



Subspedfic characters. — Bill intermediate in size between Passeretla 

 iliaca schistacea and P. i. mariposae; about the same size as in P. i. mono- 

 ensis, but more slender and attenuated than the short but rather heavy 

 bill of that subspecies. Coloration more brownish than in mariposae and 

 monoensis; about as in schistacea. Wing and tail measurements somewhat 

 less than in mariposae, about the same as in schistacea. 



Remarks. — Size of bill alone suffices to distinguish Passeretla i. fulva 

 from any of the other fox sparrows save mxmoensis. From the latter form 

 fulva may be told by the somewhat differently shaped bill, and by dif- 



