^°1913^] SwARTH, Status ofLloyd'sBush-Tit.
399
THE STATUS OF LLOYD'S BUSH-TIT AS A BIRD OF ARIZONA.
BY
H. S. SWARTH.The
SantaRita Bush-tit{Psaltriparussantaritoc) wasdescribedby Ridgway
(Proc.U.S.Nat.Mus.,X,1888,p.697)andrenaained forsomeyears in goodstandingin the AmericanOrnithologists' Union Check-List, as a speciesoccurring in,and Hmited to, the SantaRita Mountains, Arizona.The
principal characteristic of thesupposedspecies, as distinguishedfromP.plumheus,was the presenceofadusky hue onthesidesofthe head,over theauriculars.Duringseveralseasonscollecting insouthern Arizona the WTiter collected a fairly extensiveseries of bush-tits, keeping a careful lookoutforP.santaritoe, which, however,for
some
time hefailed tofind. Finally, inthesummer
of1903, specimenswere takenin theSantaRitaMountains which answeredthedescription,butthey provedtobebirds injuvenalplumage. Inoneortwoinstances adults, obviously in attendance upon these young birds, were collected, andtheseproved tobeplumheus; inother cases flocks from which examples of " santaritce" weresecured, were carefully scrutinizedwithoutrevealing thepresenceofanyindividualswith black head markings. Altogether the writerfelt convinced that the supposed Santa Rita Bush-tit was in reality the immature plumageofP.plumbcus,andsostatedinapaperonthebirds ofthe SantaRitaMountains(Condor,7,1905,p.81).In themeantime Mr.Oberholserhadpublished a synopsisofthe genus Psaltriparus (Auk,
XX,
1903,pp. 198-201),inwhichliemade
the followingstatement (p.200)inregardto the disputedspecies."
The
typeof]\Ir.Ridgway'sPsallriparussantariiwisan immature maleoflloydi,asacarefulexamination shows, anditcanbeeasily matchedby
young malespecimensfromanypartofthe rangeof thelatter."Inaccordancewiththisideathethird(1912)edition oftheA. O.
U. Check-List (p.353) gives the range of Psaltriparus mclanotis lloydi asincludingsoutheastern Arizona, presumably upon Ober- holser'sstatementquotedabove.
400
SwARTH, Status of Lloijd'sBush-Tit.[f^
Sothematterresteduntilrecently. In the courseofthe prepa- ration of a distributional listof the birds of Arizona it became desirablethat thestatus inArizonaofthese twospecies ofbush- tits, plumbeus and lloydi, be definitely settled, and all material availablewas carefully scrutinized. In the course of this study additional specimens were discovered which appeared to prove conclusivelythecorrectness of
my
previousassertion, thatsanta- ritoewasasynonym
ofpluvibeusandnotoflloydi.The
expeditionwhichthe University ofCaliforniaMuseum
of VertebrateZoologysent tothePine ForestMountainsofnorthernNevada
in 1909, secured alarge series of Psaltriparus plumbeus.Included therein are a
number
of birds injuvenalplumage, anda proportionofthesehavethehead markingof"P.santaritoe."As
therewas noquestionofP.m.lloydioccurringin thisregion, this wasa conclusive demonstration that the young ofplumbeus fre- quentlyhavemore orless blackon the head.The
evident con- clusiontobedrawn
fromthiswasthat "Psaltriparus santaritce,"occurringina region where plumheusisabundant, should be re- gardedastheyoungofthatspeciesandnotoflloydi,unlessadults ofthelatterspecies alsoweretakeninthesameplace. AsfarasI
knew
therewere noArizona recordsof lloydiotherthanofthebirds firstdescribedas " santarita;,"butthepossibilitythat adultspeci-mens
of lloydi had been taken within the state, and that their capturewasauthorityforthe extensionofrange as giveninthe Check-List causedme
tomake
inquiryin this particular.Correspondence withProfessor
W. W.
Cooke,oftheBiological Survey,elicitedthefactthatno such adultshad beentaken,and that the inclusion ofsoutheastern Arizona in the rangeof lloydi was basedentirelyonthebeliefthat"santaritoe"wastheyoungof thatspecies. AfterexaminingtheyoungbirdswhichIsent him.ProfessorCookeagreedwith
my
conclusionthat therewasnothing tojustifythe further retentionofPsaltriparus m.lloydiinthelist ofArizonabirds.He
remarkedfurtherthat thereseemedtobenoway
ofdistinguishingwith certaintybetween theyoungof lloydi andthoseexamplesofyoungpilumbeuswhichpossessthe blackhead markings.Following are brief descriptions of individuals of the Lead- colored Bush-tit {Psaltriparusplumbeus)injuvenalplumage.
As
^°1913^] Sw.\RTH, Status ofLloyd's Bush-Tit.
401
young
andadult arepractically alike ingeneralbodycolor these descriptionsarerestricted totheheadwithitsdistinctivemarkings.No. 8616 (Mus. Vert. Zool.); juvenal, sexundetermined; Pine ForestMountains,Nevada; June14, 1909.
Head
withanexten- sive "mask
"of black. Loresandspaceabouteye (5mm.
below, 2mm.
above, 5mm.
behind)black,sharply defined againstgrayof rest of head.No. 8614 (Mus.Vert.Zool); juvenal male; Pine Forest
Moun-
tains, Nevada; June 14, 1909. Faintly defined black collar at backofneck,produced
by
blacktipstothefeathers.No. 8625 (Mus.Vert.Zool.); juvenalmale; Pine Forest
Moun-
tains, Nevada; June 27, 1909.
A
black line through the eye, wideningposteriorly so as toformatriangleonside ofhead; con- tinued overbackofneckasanarrowblackline.No.8611 (Mus.Vert. Zool.); juvenal, sex undetermined; Pine ForestMountains, Nevada; June2, 1909.
A
narrowlineofdull blackbeginningbehindauricularsandextending overbackofneck.No. 8618 (Mus.Vert. Zool.); juvenalmale; Pine Forest
Moun-
tains, Nevada; June 11, 1909. Similar to No. 8611, but not so distinctlymarked.
No. 4099 (Coll.H.S. S.); juvenal male; SantaRitaMountains, Arizona; June25,1903. Blacklineextendingbackward fromeye oversideofneck.
No. 4098 (Coll.H.S. S.); juvenalmale; SantaRitaMountains, Arizona; June25, 1903.
