The Fox Sparrows 



parts, the rufous element clearest, cinnamon-rufous, on upper tail-coverts and tail; 

 also nearly pure upon auriculars, sides of throat, and spotting of chest; deepening 

 upon sides, where present in broad streaks having dusky centers, and upon back where 

 broadly margined with olivaceous gray; wings chiefly russet, with dusky brown cen- 

 tering of feathers; edge of wing and extreme tips of median and greater coverts whitish; 

 crown, cervix, and sides of neck slaty gray (light mouse-gray or olivaceous gray), 

 tipped more or less, especially upon crown, with rufous, and showing tendency to 

 streaking; rump olivaceous gray; underparts white, immaculate on abdomen, chin, 

 and lower throat, crossed on upper throat with an irregular chain of rufous spots, 

 marked boldly on chest with rufous, and across breast and often along sides of breast 

 with sharp sagittate marks of dusky; a touch of white on either side of the head above 

 the lores persisting throughout the species. Bill (drying) reddish horn-color above, 

 lighter below; feet (drying) light brown. Specimens differ chiefly in the strength and 

 diffusion of the olivaceous gray element of the upperparts. Length 165.1-184.15 

 (6.50-7.25); wing 88.5 (3.48); tail 71.7 (2.82); culmen 11.6 (.46); depth of bill 9.4 

 (■37); width at base 8.2 (.32); tarsus 24.2 (.95). 



Recognition Marks. — Sparrow size; distinguishable from all other sparrows 

 by the generous streaking of underparts and sides, and from all other subspecies 

 by the brightness of its reds. 



Nesting of Passerella iliaca. — Nest: A bulky structure composed externally 

 of coarse twigs, and bark-strips, with leaves or moss, internally of fine grasses or even fur, 

 feathers, etc.; placed low or at moderate heights in bushes, thickets, saplings, etc., 

 or even upon the ground without attempt at concealment. Eggs: 3 or 4 in the South; 

 4 or 5 in the North; rounded ovate; pale niagara green or greenish gray, spotted, 

 sometimes uniformly and heavily, or else sparingly, or blotched or cloud-capped 

 (rarely, if ever, wreathed), with reddish brown (burnt umber or cameo-brown to deep 

 chocolate). Av. size 22.35 x I ^>-5 (-88 x .65). Extremes 20.3-25.4 by 15. 5-17. 8 (.80- 

 1.00 by .61-. 70). Season: May-July; two broods. While the material available 

 does not justify an attempt to define subspecific distinctions in the eggs of Fox Spar- 

 rows, there is a rough correlation in size between the eggs and the parent birds, and a 

 tendency toward brighter as well as heavier coloring in the case of the Alaskan coastal 

 races. 



Range of Passerella iliaca. — North America, but chiefly western, breeding north 

 of the United States and in the mountains of the West; wintering south to the Gulf 

 States and southern California. 



Range of P. i. iliaca. — Breeds in the Boreal zones of Canada and northern Alaska, 

 except the southwestern portion, from the limit of trees south to northern Manitoba and 

 the Magdalen Islands; winters in the eastern United States from about Latitude 40 

 south to the Gulf, and in the West casually upon the southern coast of Alaska south to 

 California. 



Occurrence in California. — Rare or casual midwinter visitant; reported from 

 widely scattered localities, chiefly southern. 



Authorities. — Coues, Birds of the Northwest, 1874, p. 161 ("Accidental in 

 California, spec, in Mus. S. I."); Henshaw, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, vol. iii., 1878, p. 7 

 (crit.); Nelson, Rep. Nat. Hist. Coll. Alaska, 1887, p. 195 (habits, song, nest and 

 eggs, etc.); W. E. Bryant, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 2nd ser., vol. ii., 1889, p. 90 (Poway, 

 San Diego Co.); Judd, U. S. Dept. Agric, Biol. Surv. Bull., no. 15, 1901, p. 87 (food); 

 Swarth, Univ. Calif. Pub. Zool., vol. xxi., 1920, p. 114, figs, (occurrence in Calif., distr., 

 desc, crit.). 



366 



