Mar.,: 1920 BRYANT MARSH SPARROW UPON THE HILLS 65 
600 feet, terminating in Tomales Point, which forms the headland next above 
the well known Point Reyes. Except at the very head of Tomales Bay there is 
little or no marsh land at sea level, the water coming in close to the bluffs. At 
the commencement of this ridge an interesting growth of Bishop pine (Pinus 
muricata), under which grows salal (Gaultheria shallon) in great abundance, 
gives way to open tops as a rule, the canyons on either side being w ooded, 
brushy, or both. 
The open ground on the top is in places given over to patches of brush, 
and some large areas are covered by the yellow lupine which, at the height of 
blossoming, gives great charm to the landscape. Springs of water exist here 
and there, and in one of the areas where most of the sparrows were found there 
is quite a ‘‘cienaga’’, or marshy spot, even well into the summer. The accom- 
panying photograph is intended to show the type of country in which this 
sparrow not only thrives, but apparently breeds. The estimated elevation of 
the locality shown in the photograph is about 400 feet, and the distance from 
the nearest salt marsh five miles. 
On August 9, 1919, the ascent of Black’s Mountain was made, and the 
presence of Passerculus established there, even on the summit. The only speci- 
men actually secured was taken by Luther Little, at the time assistant curator 
of the Department of Ornithology in the California Academy of Sciences, and 
proved to be identical with the Tomales Point birds, as far as its worn plumage 
would allow us to judge. As this date presumably was too early in the season 
for the appearance of migrants it seems fair to conclude that this specimen is 
of the same form as that taken by Allen as parent of the nest above alluded to. 
The photograph reproduced herewith will show the character of Black’s 
Mountain, the altitude of which, by aneroid, is 1140 feet. Its distance from 
the salt marsh at Tomales Bay is about four miles. 
We have carefully compared the specimens taken on these several ocea- 
sions with many examples of the Bryant Marsh Sparrow from elsewhere. but 
ean find no material differences. Special care has been taken with the meas- 
urements of these specimens, as well as with the many others examined from 
the San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz and Humboldt Bay regions known to be 
bryantr. The measurements of the Tomales Point birds easily fall within the 
extremes of the groups from these other localities, and the averages are too 
close to amount to anything. The latter groups show some slight differences 
in their averages, as might be expected from the small numbers measured— 
from four to ten being arranged in each group according to sex, date and loeal- 
ity—but not enough to be taken into consideration. 
In color and shading the individuals in each group differ among them- 
selves to quite an extent, and vary a good deal with the time of year; but the 
specimens from Tomales Point cannot be distinguished, as far as we are able 
to determine, by any of these characteristics, from those from the other regions 
mentioned and which have been positively identified as bryanti. The only pos- 
sible exception is in the case of three immature females from Santa Cruz, Cali- 
fornia, taken on September 3 and 4, which are rather deeper and more of a 
sort of reddish brown in shade than any of the Tomales Point birds, but they 
differ in this same way from any of our other examples as well, so it seems to 
be more a difference associated with stage of immaturity than anything else. 
Our latest Tomales Point birds were taken on August 23, but seemed older than 
