278 SNODGRASS AND HELLER 



Camarhynchus prodtictus Ridgway, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvii, p. 364, 1894 

 (Albemarle Island) ; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 566, 1896. 



Geospiza pallida Rothschild and Hartert, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 165, 

 1899 (Indefatigable, Jervis, Duncan, James and Albemarle Islands). 



Range. — Indefatigable, Jervis, Duncan, James and Albemarle. 



Adult Male. — Cat. No. 4591, Leland Stanford Junior University- 

 Museum ; James Island, April 22, 1899. Above, plain light brown, 

 darker on the head where the feathers have distinctly dark brown 

 centers; lighter, almost grayish-brown on the rump and upper tail 

 coverts. Upper surface of wings and tail darker than the back, some- 

 what sooty-brown. The wing quills with narrow grayish outer 

 edgings, and wider slaty inner borders. The upper wing coverts with 

 indistinct grayish-brown edgings. Under wing coverts whitish. 

 Lores, superciliary line, subocular and auricular regions, and entire 

 under parts dirty buff gray, palest on the belly and under tail coverts. 

 Under parts most strongly tinged with brownish-buff on the breast and 

 along the sides. Throat and breast spotted with dusky. Bill black. 

 Feet dark brown. Length 148 millimeters, wing 75, tail 48, culmen 

 17.5, gonys 9.3, width of bill at base 7.3, depth of bill at base 9.5, 

 tarsus 24. 



Immature. — Cat. No. 5225 Leland Stanford Junior University 

 Museum; Iguana Cove, Albemarle, June 9, 1S99. Back almost 

 entirely pure yellowish-olive, the feathers of the head having slightly 

 dusky central areas. The lower parts are bright yellowish-buff, con- 

 siderably paler than the back. Wings and tail dusky with wide olive- 

 buff edgings to the feathers. The feathers of the breast and sides 

 without subterminal brown spots. Bill brownish-yellow above, pale 

 yellowish below. Feet dark brown (specimen moulting). This 

 plumage is what we have termed Stage I in the evolution of the color 

 of the Geospizce. 



The color of the specimen just described is identical with that of 

 young birds of the subgenus Camarhynchus . It was taken at about 

 one thousand feet elevation at the south end of Albemarle, near Iguana 

 Cove. 



This species probably represents the ancestral Geospiza more nearly 

 than any other species of Geospiza now living. In plumage it is cer- 

 tainly primitive, for in the adult it reaches only the stage attained by the 

 immature birds of all the other species. Whether the bill has the 

 shape of the ancestral Geospiza or not is impossible to say, since the 

 variation of this member in the genus is so great that we can place no 

 reliance on the supposition that it has remained constant. 



Geospiza pallida differs but little from the next species, G. heliobates 



