358 



BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Melospizu faaaala jiiddi Bishop, Auk, xiii, Apr., 1896, 132 (Rock Lake, Towner 



Co., North Dakota; coll. L. B. Bishop).— American Ornithologists' Union 



Committee, Auk, xiv, 1897, 122 (no. 581;.). 

 (?) [Fringllla] luemaUs Gmelin, Syst. Nat., i, pt. ii, 1788, 922 (New York; based 



on Winter Finch Pennant, Arct. ZooL, ii, 376; Latham, Gen. Synop., ii, pt. i, 



274). 



MELOSPIZA CINEREA MONTANA (Henshaw). 

 MOUNTAIN SONG SPARROW. 



Similar to 21. c. mclodla but wipg, tail, and tarsi averaging 

 decidedlj' longer, bill smaller and relatively more slender, and colora- 

 tion grayer; young with ground color of under parts dull white or 

 grayish white, instead of more or less buffy, that of upper parts less 

 tawny than the young of 21. e. melodia. 



Adult iiudc.—'hengi\i (skins), 141.73-164.85 (150.88); wing, 65.63- 

 73.91 (69.34); tail, 63.60-76.71 (69.60); exposed culmen, 11.18-13.97 

 (12.19); depth of bill at base, 6.86-7.87 (7.37); tarsus, 21.34-23.37 

 (22.85); middle toe, 15.21-17.02 (16.00).' 



Adidt feiJude.'-LQngth (skins), 135.89-161.04 (148.34); wing, 62.48- 

 69.85 (66.29); tail, 62.48-72.64 (66.80); exposed culmen, 10.41-12.70 

 (11.94); depth of bill at base, 6.86-8.13 (7.11); tarsus, 20.83-22.86 

 (21.84); middle toe, 14.99-16.26 (15.49).= 



' Thirty-nine specimens. 



^Thirty specimens. 



Specimens from the western portion of the Great Basin and adjacent portions of 

 California have the wing and tail shorter and the bill, as a rule, thicker than those 

 from the Rocky Mountain district, and are therefore not typical; but since they do 

 not differ in coloration it seems best to refer them to the same subspecies. Speci- 

 mens from the Rocky Mountain district, the western portion of the Great Basin, and 

 eastern California, respectively, average, as follows: 



Locality. 



Middle 

 toe. 



MALES, 



Fifteen adult males from Rocky Mountain district 

 Thirteen adult males from western edge of Great 



Basin 



Eleven adult males from eastern California 



FEMALES. 



Twelve adult females from Rocky Mountain dis- 

 trict 



Twelve adult females from western edge of Great 

 Basin , 



Six adult females from eastern California 



16.26 

 16,00 



15,49 

 16.00 



The western specimens incline in measurements toward J/, c. heermanni, but are 

 still decidedly larger (except the bill) and the coloration is decidedly paler and less 

 brown. Many specimens of this form are scarcely to be distinguished as to colora- 

 tion from the grayer examples of M. c. melodia, hut the longer wing and tail, and, 

 except among specimens from the western parts of its range, the decidedly smaller 

 and more slender bill will serve to readily distinguish them. 



