The Fox Sparrows 



No. 651 White Mountains Fox Sparrow 



A. O. U. No. 585c, part. Passerella iliaca canescens Swarth. 



Description. — "From schistacea, canescens may be differentiated by its de- 

 cidedly more grayish coloration. This is strikingly apparent when freshly molted 

 birds of the two subspecies are compared, and it is also evident in the juvenal plumage. 

 In worn midsummer birds these color differences naturally are obscured" (Swarth). 

 A dubious candidate for nomenclatural recognition, albeit the tendency toward gray- 

 ness does undoubtedly exist. 



Range of P. i. canescens. — Breeds in the White Mountains of California (and 

 presumably in Nevada). Winter range undefined, but specimens taken at Blythe 

 on the Colorado River, and at Mt. Wilson, Los Angeles County, referred to this form 

 by Swarth, the original describer. 



Authorities. — Fisher {Passerella iliaca schistacea), N. Am. Fauna, no. 7, 

 1893, p. 102 (White Mts.); Swarth, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., vol. xxxi., 1918, p. 163 

 (White Mts.; orig. desc); Univ. Calif. Pub. Zool., vol. xxi., 1920, p. 169, figs, (occurrence 

 in Calif., distr., desc, crit.). 



No. 65m Mono Fox Sparrow 



A. O. U. No. 585b, part. Passerella iliaca monoensis Grinnell & Storer. 



Description. — Similar to P. i. schistacea, but slightly grayer and with much 

 stouter bill — comparable in this regard to P. i. fulva, which is a much browner bird. 



Remarks. — Monoensis is possibly the "lightest" of the recognizable forms of 

 P. iliaca. Bearing in mind that a name is a mere tag, a bit of intellectual furniture 

 attached to, or "wished on" a group of natural objects, we must constantly strive to 

 free ourselves from the groundless notion that neighboring groups so tagged are of 

 equal value. The Fox Sparrows found along the eastern flanks of the Sierras have 

 somewhat smaller bills than those found further west. This tendency has been traced 

 as far south as Kearsarge Pass, but it appears to find its strongest expression about 

 Mono Lake. The affinities of monoensis are with mariposce, and it probably does not 

 deserve nomenclatural distinction from it. 



Range of P. i. monoensis (Wholly included within the State). — Breeds in 

 high Transition in the Mono Lake region. Winter range unknown. 



Authorities. — Grinnell and Storer, Condor, vol. xix., 1917, p. 165 (Mono 

 Lake P. O. ; orig. desc); Swarth, Univ. Calif. Pub. Zool., vol. xxi., 1920, p. 170, figs, 

 (occurrence in Calif., distr., desc, crit.). 



No. 65n Yosemite Fox Sparrow 



A. O. U. No. 585b, part. Passerella iliaca mariposae Swarth. 



Description. — Similar to P. i. monoensis, but bill slightly larger: length of bill 

 12.7 (.50); depth at base 12.4 (.488); width 10.6 (.417). General tone of upperparts 

 in worn (breeding) plumage brownish gray (nearest chaetura drab, Ridgway) ; spotting 

 of underparts dusky, not rufescent. 



Range of P. i. mariposce (Wholly included within California). — "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" (Swarth). Winter range undefined, although 



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