A new subspecies of Prunela modularis from the Pyrenees

Vol. 32, pp.243-244

December

31, 1919

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

A NEW SUBSPECIES OF PRUNELLA MODULARIS FROM THE PYRENEES.

BY FRANCIS HARPER.

During ^{a week's}

collectingⁱⁿ

the Pyrenees

in April, 1919,

the

writer

secured

several

examples

^of

^the Hedge Sparrow

(Prunella modularis)^.

These _appear, upon examination,

to represent

an undescribed

_race,

which may ^{be known}

^{as follows:}

Prunella modularis _mabbotti,¹ subsp. nov.

Subspecific characters.

—

Distinguishable ata glance from both Prunella modularis modularis,^ofcentralEurope, and^P.m.occidentalis, oftheBritish Isles,

by

^the

much

grayer, ^lessrufescent colorationofthebackand wings

(tae edgings ^ofthefeathers ofthese parts buffy

brown

and

smoke

_grayin- steadofcinnamon-brown, ^{as inthe}twootherformsmentioned).²

Type^locality.

— At

timber-line _(altitudeabout 1700 meters) ona

moun-

tainaboutthree kilometerssouthof Saillagouse, Dept.^of Pyrenees-Orien- tales, France.

Typespecimen.

—

No. _256755, TJ. S. National

Museum;

adult male;^col- lectedApril24,1919,

by

Francis Harper.

Geographic range.

—

Specimens examined onlyfromtheDepartments^of Pyr6nees-Orientalesand_Ariege,France;probablyrestricted, at leastduring the breedingseason, tothePyrenees

and

adjacent parts^ofsouthernFrance andnorthern Spain.

Descriptionof type.

—

Pileumand nape

mouse

_gray,broadly but very^in- distinctly streaked with olive-brown; scapulars and interscapulars with broadmesial streaks_{of black,}and edged withbuffy

brown and smoke

_gray;

rump

and uppertail-coverts olive-brown; ^tailfuscous;wings fuscous, the exposed edges^of thefeathers buffy

brown

_(paleronthe _tertials);

median

andgreater covertsslightlytippedwith_whitish;malarandauricular regions olive-brown, finelystreakedwithwhitish;under_parts

mouse

gray, lighter

iNamed for Douglas ^Clifford Mabbott, an Americanornithologist,whofell in the causeofhumanlibertynearThiaucourt, France,on September15,1918.

^Colors given herein are thoseofRidgway(ColorStandardsandColor Nomenclature 1912).

50—

Pboc. Biol.Soc.Wash., Vol.32, 1919. (243)

244 Proceedings

of^theBiological Society of

Washington.

onchin,

and

_changingtowhitishon middleof belly; sides

and

flanks

washed

with_buffybrown, and^streakedwithfuscous.

Measurements_{of type.}

—

_Length(skin), 150

mm.;

wing,68.5;tail,57.5; ex- posedculmen,10.5;tarsus,20.5;middletoewithoutclaw, 14.5.

Remarks.

— From

the available materialin the U. S. National

Museum

selectionhas been made, ^forpurposes^ofcomparison,^offourspecimens^of P. m. modularis from France, Switzerland,

and Norway,

^sixspecimens^of P. m. occidentalisfrom England,

and

threespecimens (inaddition tothe type) ^ofP. m. mabbottifromthe Pyrenees.

As

faras can be judged from this material, the streakson pileum

and

_napeare

much more

distinctin occidentalisthanin modularis

and

mabbotti.

The

sides

and

flanks inPy- renean specimensare conspicuously^lessrufescentthaninBritishand Nor- wegianspecimens,

and somewhat

less so than in specimens^{of modularis} from France

and

Switzerland. InBritishspecimens^thetarsusand middle toe averageslightly longer,

and

thebillslightly stouter, thaninspecimens ofthetworacesfromtheContinent.

Inform ofwing^the Pyreneanbird appears

somewhat

intermediate be- tween modularis

and

occidentalis.¹ In the type specimen^the second _pri-

mary

^isabout2.5

mm.

longerthanthe seventh, whileⁱⁿaparatype from^the

same

locality (No. 256648, U.S.N. M.)^the second

and

seventh_primaries areapproximately equal.

The

_averagedifference inlengthbetweenthese primariesⁱⁿthespecimens^{ofmodularisis}about4

mm., and

inthespecimens of occidentalis, ^lessthan1

mm.

Prunellamodularis mabbottiappeared ^tobea rather

common

andchar- acteristic birdin late Aprilⁱⁿ thebelt ofpine ^forestonthe intermediate mountain_slopesnearSaillagouse.

Specimens examined.—Total number, 4,²as follows:

France: Saillagouse,Dept.^ofPyrenees-Orientales,3; l'Hospitalet,Dept.

of Ariege, ^1.

iCf. Hartert, British Birds,III,1910, 314.

2CollectionU.S.Nat.Mus.