PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XVI, pp. 113-116

September

30, 1903

PROCEEDINGS

OF THB

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

THE NORTH AMERICAN FORMS OF ASTRAGALINUS PSALTRIA _(SAY).

BY HARRY

C.

OBERHOLSER.

Six geographical ^{races of} Astragalinus psaltria (Say)

were

recognized

by ^Mr. Ridgway

^{in his recent treatment of the} genus*, ^asfollows:

Astragalinus psaltriapsaltria (Say).

—

_LowerCaliforniaandsouthwest- ernUnited StatesfromTexasandColoradoto California.

Astragalinus psaltria arizonte (Cones').

—

Northwestern Mexico and southwesternborderoftheUnitedStatesfrom Texasto California,north toColorado.

Astragalinuspsaltria mexicanus (Swainson).

—

_{Mexico, except}extreme southern and northwestern _portions; north to Texas,

New

Mexico and Colorado.

Astragalinus psaltria croceus (Jouy).

—

Southern Mexico to Panama, casually^toColombia andEcuador.

Astragalinuspsaltriajouyi (Ridgway).

—

Yucatan.

Astragalinuspsaltria columbiamis(La-fresnaye).

—

_{Costa Rica toYene-}

zuelaandPeru.

Birds

ofNorthandMiddle Amer., I, 1901, pp. 114-121.

29—Proc. Biol, Soc.Wash. Vol.XVI, ^1903. (H8)

114 Oberholser

— Forms _of

Astragalimis ^Psaltria {Say).

"With the last three

we have no

present concern, but the others will bear further elucidation. In the first place, the status of Astragalimis p. arizonce, as currently accepted, has been very properly challenged

by Mr.

^{Brewster* and}

Mr.

Grin- nellf, as well as

by Mr. RidgwayJ.

Furthermore, ^{the occur-} rence of all three

forms —

psaltria, arizonce

and

mexicanus

—

in

Colorado during ^the breeding ^{seasonisalonesufficient to}arouse suspicion.

The

_{type locality}of psaltria^is the

Arkansas

_River, near105°

west longitude (between

Pueblo and Canon

_City), Colorado?/,

and

a series of

summer

males

from

Colorado _Springs, Colorado,

which

forpurposes ^of comparison

may

be considered _practical topotypes, exhibits^all gradations

from

the green-backed ^{to the} black-backed forms, representing thus _{psaltria, arizonce,}

and mexicanus —

all breeding ^{at the}

same

_place!

These

differences are,however, in this case,quite tertainly the ^result of age;

and

this conclusion is fortified

by

^{the occurrence of similar varia-} tions well withinthe range ^{of the so-called} black-backed

form

mexicanus,\\

in Texas,

New

_Mexico,

and

even Mexico. Males breedⁱⁿ thegreen-backed

plumage which

probably ^{is the condi-} tion of the first year;

and

one or two, _possibly three,

more

seasons are required ^to complete the fully adult black dress.

Say's psaltria

was

based

on

one of these

immature

green-backed specimens

which

are indistinguishable

from

individuals of the constantly green-backed

form found

in California; but notwith- standing this, the

name must

be used for the black-backed

Colorado

bird. Fullyadult individuals

from

this latter state, that _is, thosewiththe black upper^surface, seem, however, not to be proportionately ^so

common,

^at least in collections, as the similar

plumage

^{of the}

Mexican

_bird,

and

moreover, have ^usu- ally

some

_slight mixture of olive green

on

the upper parts,

though by

^farthe greater

number

of

Mexican

birds havea simi- lartraceof_olive; butboththeseapparentdifferences

may

^bedue

eithertofortuitous selection incollecting specimens

—

_as, forin- stance, appears ^to be the case with adult males of Sporop>hila

•Bull. Mus. Comp.Zool., XLI, 1902, p. 136.

fCondor, 1902, pp. 115-116.

JBirds^ofNorthandMiddle Amer., I, 1901,p. 116.

§Say, Long'sExped. RockyMts., II, 1823, p. ^40.

||Swainson, Philos. Mag., N. S., I, 1827, p. 435 (Real ^del Monte, Hi- dalgo,Mexico).

Oberholser

— Forms _of

Astragali-mis Psaltria {Say). 115 mordleti

from

the

Lower Rio Grande —

or to a tendency

toward

intergradation with thegreen-backed

form found

fartherto the westward. Moreover, ^there

seem

to be

no

other characters to separate the birds of Colorado _(psaltria)

from

those of

Mexico

(mexicanus).

From

these facts it therefore is apparent ^that Astragalinus p. mexicamis^isthe

same

as

Astra

galinus p. psaltria.

The name

arizonce*

was

based on

New Mexico

birds in the parti-colored

immature

_plumage,

and

is

undoubtedly

^a

synonym

of psaltria.

The

_{type (No.} 37,091,

U.

S.Nat. Mus.)

came from

near Fort

Wingate, New Mexico; and

another specimen taken at the

same

_{time (June 28)} ^is almost pure black above. In treating ^this form,

Mr. Ridgway

curiously

enough

^overlooked the type

and

the

two

other specimens taken simultaneously

by

Dr. Coues, stating that

none

of these

were

ⁱⁿthe collection of the

United

States National

Museum

_f.

New

Mexico, with^the exception ^{of its} extreme southwestern _corner, seems to be in- habited _solely

by

^the black-backed bird psaltria.

All adult males

from Lower

California, California,

Nevada,

Arizona, together with ^those

we have

seen

from Utah have

the

back

olive green, apparently never

assuming

^{the black}

plumage

of true psaltria-

and

_rarelyhave evena mixtureofblack in the

back

or auriculars, suchindividuals indicatingprobably,^as

Mr.

Brewster _suggests, merely an aberrant tendency ^{of this} green-

backed

form.

True

intermediates doubtless

do

_{occur, however,}

innorthwestern Mexico.

From what

has beensaid inthe foregoing paragraphs ^it

may

be premised ^{that there are} but

two

forms of Astragalinus pisaltria in

North America

north of southern Mexico,

and

that one of these is

unnamed. They may

^be distinguished ^as follows:

Astragalinus psaltria psaltria (Say).

Frinyillapsaltria Say,Long's Exped. Rocky Mts.,II, 1823, p. 40.

Carduelismexicana Swainson, ^Philos. Mag., N._{S., I, 1827,p.} 435.

FringillamelanoxanthaLichtenstein, Preis-Verz.Mex._{Yog.,1830,p. 2.}

Fringilla ^texensis Giraud, Sixteen Species North Amer. _{Birds, 1841,}

pl- 5, fig. 1.

*Coues, Proc. Acad.Nat.Sci. Phila., 1866, pp.82, 83.

fBirds ofNorthandMiddle Amer., I, 1901,p. 116, footnote.

116 Oberholser

— Forms of

Astragalinvs Psaltria {Say).

Chrysomitris (Pseudomitris) mexiettmuvar. arizona Coues. Proc.Acad.

Nat.Sci. Phila.. 1S66, pp. ^{S2. S3.}

ifit characters.

—

_{Upper parts, including wingsand tail,} black, thewings with broad white edgings, the tail with most of its feathers extensivelywhite_basally: entireundersurface yellow.

Geographic distribution.

—

Mexico, excepting ^thenorthwestern andex- treme southernportions: Texas,

New

Mexico, andColorado.

Astragalinus psaltria hesperophilus, subsp. nov.

Astra_{galinuspsaltria}Auct., neeSay.

Subspecific characters.

—

Similar to Astragalinus psaltria psaltria, but ear-coverts, sides of neck, with back, nape, and _{rump, in fully} adult plumage, olivegreen^{insteadofblack.}

Geographic distribution.

—

SouthwesternUnited Statesand northwest- ernMexico, fromCaliforniaand LowerCaliforniatoUtah,Arizona, and extreme southwestern

New

Mexico.

Description.

—

_Type, adult male. No.139.15S. U. S. National

Museum

(BiologicalSurveyCollection):SanBernardino.California,December _28,

1S90: Dr.A. K. Fisher. Pileum.and_uppertail-covertsblack, thelatter with olive green edgings; remainder of upper parts ^olive green with narrowdusky^orblackish shaft streaks: tailblack, theinnerwebsofthe threeouter pairsof rectriceslargely white,andall the feathersnarrowly margined externallywith pale grayish: wings^black, withalargewhite speculum^atthebaseofthe primaries, the^tertialsbroadlybordered with white, the other _quills narrowly edged with _grayish and olivaceous:

lesser and median wing-coverts edged with^olivegreen: greater coverts broadly margined ^with greenish white: ^{sides of} head and neck olive green: ^entireundersurfacedeep primrose yellow,paleronthe crissum, whitish ontheabdomen, andshaded witholivaceousonsidesandflanks:

lining^ofwing mixedgray, white, andblack. Length^ofwing.65.5; tail, 43: exposed culmen,9; tarsus. 15: middletoe.10

mm.