Mar., 1910 
STATUS OF THE CALIFORNIA BICOLORED BLACKBIRD 
65 
And this is all the distinction that there is to be found in the later manuals 
and keys — especially those written for the Pacific Coast. There are so many shades 
of crimson to orange on the lesser wing coverts, and of buffy brown to buffy white 
on the middle coverts, that the color of these can hardly be considered as a matter 
of specific determination. In southern California we have the form described as A. 
phoeniceus neutralis, the San Diego Redwing. Let us turn to the description of 
this form. We will find that it is (Birds of N. & M. Am. p. 339,) — “similar to 
but smaller than A. p. sonoriensis but this form is similar to but larger than 
richmondi, which is similar to but slightly smaller than doridanus, which is simi- 
lar to but slightly smaller than phoeniceus. Hence, when boiled down, as it w'ere, 
A. p. neutralis is similar to (but smaller (?) or larger (?) than) A. p. phoeniceus. 
As this last form is described as having the “middle wing coverts w'holly buff or 
ochraceous buff” it should follow that A. p. neutralis would have this same 
characteristic. Yet in the foot-note before mentioned is the proof that this charac- 
teristic is not constant in A. p. neutralis. Is not this a step tow r ard the form 
called gubernator? 
As the measurements of grandis , which is “similar to A. g. gubernator" over- 
lap some of the subspecific forms of phoeniceus , and as the description of grandis 
will apply equally well to many specimens of A. p. neutralis , which the author has 
examined most critically, is not this a step toward pheniceus? And are not these 
steps so decidedly in each other’s direction that there is every probability of their 
colliding with considerable force ? 
I will state here that we have in our collection (Coll, of J. & J. W. Mailliard, 
San Francisco, Calif.) several males of phoeniceus from Colorado, one from Massa- 
chusetts, and one — shown in the accompanying photograph — from South Carolina, 
loaned by the U. S. National Museum, which show' more or less black on the inner- 
most coverts. 
The similarity of the tw r o forms, phoeniceus and gubernator , has evidently 
been a stumbling block to every one who has endeavored to solve the questions in- 
volved, and several authorities in the past have called attention to this. For 
instance Spencer F. Baird, in the Report of the Pacific Railroad Survey, IX, 
1858, p. 526, speaking of phoeniceus says: “The middle w'ing coverts are some- 
times uniform brownish to the very tips; sometimes some of these middle coverts 
are tipt at the end with black, but these black tips are usually of slight extent.” 
Again, ibid , p. 529, speaking of the male of A. gubernator (calif ornicus) “the 
bases of the middle wing coverts are brownish yellow, but the exposed portion is 
black instead of being brownish yellow as in phoeniceus , or w'hite as in tricolor. 
Sometimes, however, by the elongation of the yellowish basal portion, some of this 
color shows beyond the red, as in phoeniceus." And “It was at one time consid- 
ered that the female of gubernator w 7 as the darker, but there are 3 specimens be- 
fore me, (4598, 4599, 4600), which in the amount of light color beneath approxi- 
mate to A. phoeniceus." 
Then again, in “North American Birds”, Baird, Brew'er and Ridgway, Vol. 
II, p. 160, under A. phoeniceus , occurs the following: “The middle wing coverts 
are usually uniform brownish yellow to the very tips: sometimes some of these 
middle coverts are tipt with black, but these black tips are usually of slight 
extent, and indicate immaturity, or else a transition of hybridism or race to 
A. gubernator." 
Dr. Elliot Coues, in his “Birds of the Northwest”, p. 187, goes further 
than any of the others, saying: “The so-called species, A. gubernator , has not 
the slightest claim to specific rank — in fact it can hardly be rated as a fair variety. 
