The Fox Sparrows 



there are examples from the San Diego district (e. g., Santa Barbara, Oct. 31, 1913 

 — M. C. 0. coll.). 



Authorities. — Cooper (Passerella megarhynchus, part?), Orn. Calif., 1870, 

 p. 222 (Sierra Nevada); Ingersoll, Condor, vol. xv., 1913, p. 84 (destruction of nests 

 and eggs) \Swarth, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., vol. xxxi., 1918, p. 161 (Chinquapin, Yosemite 

 Park; orig. desc); Univ. Calif. Pub. Zool., vol. xxi., 1920, p. 173, figs, (occurrence in 

 Calif. ; distr., desc, crit.) ; /. Mailliard, Condor, vol. xxi., 1919, p. 76 (desc. nests, habits, 

 etc.);/. W. Mailliard, Condor, vol. xxiii., 1921, p. 73 (desc. nests, habits, etc.). 



Taken in 

 Mono County 

 Photo by the 

 Author 



THE "SPECIATION specialists" are having a gay time just now 

 with our Fox Sparrows. The latest authority, H. S. Swarth, of Berkeley, 

 triumphantly announces that "the total number of recognizable sub- 

 species of Passeretta iliaca is now sixteen; and all of these occur at some 

 season within the State." Sacre bleu! how is a plain citizen to make his 

 way in such a maze of quiddities! And all of these alleged varieties are 

 migratory, so that John Henry on his weekly bird-hike has sixteen guesses 

 for every bird he sees. Verily, ornithology has ceased to be an exact 

 science. Oh, of course the evidence is indisputable. I do not dispute it. 

 But, also, it is quite certain that my left eye differs by definable niceties 

 from its mate; and that the distal reticulations on the wings of a colony 

 of flies hatched on the north side of the barn are appreciably smaller 

 than the corresponding surfaces from a colony reared in the pigpen. 

 Very good ! but what of it? The recognition of subspecies has become too 



subtle a game for the 

 laity to follow. Let us 

 speak of Fox Sparrows; 

 and since we may not be 

 sure what we have at 

 any other season, let us 

 speak of them in nesting 

 time. 



"Gentle, urbane, and 

 ubiquitous" were three 

 adjectives applied by the 

 author's note-book to the 

 Fox Sparrows studied near 

 Mammoth Camp, June 7th 

 to July 7th, 1919. But 

 though these birds were dom- 

 inant in mixed pine and fir 

 forests lying between the 

 8000 and 9000 foot level, they 

 were not to be won by 



MONO FOX SPARROW AT NEST 



j80 



