The Sage Sparrows 



dusky spot on center of breast; washed on sides and flanks and crissum with buffy, 

 and streaked on sides but not on crissum with dusky. Bill blackish above, lighter 

 below; legs dark brown, toes darker; iris brown. Young: "Pileum, hind-neck, 

 chest and sides, as well as back, streaked with dusky; otherwise essentially as in adults" 

 (Ridgway). Underparts save on throat sometimes tinged with yellowish or buffy. 

 Length of adult male about 152.4 (6.00); wing 80 (3.15); tail 81 (3.19); bill 10 (.39); 

 tarsus 21.5 (.846). Females a little smaller. 



Recognition Marks. — Sparrow size (barely); ashy gray or light drab plumage; 

 white throat partially defined by dusky streaks; dusky, white and gray pattern of 

 head. 



Nesting. — As in preceding species. 



Range of Amphispiza nevadensis. — Breeding in sage-brush plains of western 

 United States from central Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming south to southern 

 Colorado, south central California, and (A. n. cinered) Lower California; wintering 

 south from southeastern California, southern Nevada, and southern Utah to south- 

 western Texas and Chihuahua. 



Note. — If A. n. cinerea of Lower California really occupies the isolated area 

 assigned to it by the A. O. U. Check-List (3rd Edition), i. e., "West coast of Lower 

 California from Santo Domingo to Ballenas Bay," it must either relate itself to .4. belli 

 and stand as A. belli cinerea, or else assume full specific rank as Amphispiza cinerea. 



Range of A. n. nevadensis. — As above, save as delimited by A. n. canescens in 

 south central California and A. n. cinerea in Lower California. 



Distribution in California. — Breeding in the Artemisia (tridentata) east of 

 the Sierras from the Surprise Valley south to Mono Lake and in the desert ranges 

 southwest of Owens Valley. 



Authorities. — Henshaw, Rep. Orn. Spec. Wheeler's Surv., 1876, p. 243 (Kern- 

 ville); Johnson, Zoe, vol. ii., 1891, p. 22 (crit); Fisher, N. Am. Fauna, no. 7, 1893, 

 p. 96, part (many Calif, localities) ; Grinnell, Auk, vol. xv., 1898, p. 58 (crit.); Taylor, 

 Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool., vol. vii., 1912, p. 397 (Nevada; habits, nest and eggs). 



No. 49a California Sage Sparrow 



A. O. U. No. 574. lb. Amphispiza nevadensis canescens Grinnell. 



Description. — Similar to A. n. nevadensis, but size slightly less and coloration 

 somewhat darker — thus approaching A. belli in character. Length of wing 71 (2.8); 

 tail 77 (3.04). 



Range of A. n. canescens. — Common in summer in the Upper Sonoran belt of 

 sage-brush along the mountains encircling the south end of the San Joaquin Valley: 

 Piute Mountains and Mt. Pinos; west rim of Owens Valley on Lone Pine Creek and 

 near Owens Lake; vicinity of Walker's Pass; near Bakersfield and McKittrick, Kern 

 County, and on Carrizo Plains, San Luis Obispo County; south to east slope of San 

 Bernardino Mountains, and north to west side of Tulare Lake (Grinnell). Occurs 

 in winter on the southeastern deserts to the Colorado River (Potholes, Feb. 11, 1913), 

 north to Fresno County, west to San Diegan district (San Fernando Valley, etc.). 



Authorities. — Fisher {Amphispiza belli nevadensis), N. Am. Fauna, no. 7, 1893, 

 p. 96, part (Calif, localities; crit.) ; Grinnell, Condor, vol. vii., 1905, p. 18 (orig. descr.; 

 Mt. Pinos); Auk, vol. xxii., 1905, p. 387 (Mt. Pinos; habits, crit.); Swarth, Condor, vol. 

 xii., 1910, p. 108 (Riverside; crit.); ibid., Condor, vol. xiii., 191 1, p. 163 (Carrizo 

 Plain, breeding). 



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