NOTES ON SYSTEMATICS AND DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN PALAEARCTIC BIRDS

Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History.

VOL. 38, No. 1, p. 1-55.

NOTES ON SYSTEMATICS AND DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN PALAEARCTIC BIRDS.

BY PETER P, SUSHKIN. (Member Russian Academy of Sciences; Honorary Member American Ornithologists' Union and British Ornithologists' Union.)

BOSTON: PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY. AUGUST, 1925.

INTRODUCTION. DURING my more than thirty years' ornithological activity, which has been connected first with my field work and my private collection (numbering now about 11,000 specimens) and for the last three years with the rearrangement of the ornithological collection belonging to the Zoological Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Petersburg, I have also, thanks to the courtesy of the owners, taken advantage of consulting the private collections of the late N. Severtzov and Prof. M. Menzbier (both of which were purchased later by the Zoological Museum of the Russian Academy), of Mr. G. Poliakov (late editor of the " Messager Ornithologique," the Russian ornithological journal), whose collection is now in the Zoological Museum of Moscow University, of Mr. S. Buturlin, (partly lost during the revolution and now also in the University of Moscow), of Mr. A. Tugarinov (director of the Municipal Museum in Krasnoyarsk), whose collection was presented by him to the Zoological Museum of the Academy, and others. In the course of this work, I have accumulated a great number of rough notes based on the study of this material, and of the Russian ornithological literature, only a part of which has been used in my papers. The Russian ornithological collections are but little known to my colleagues abroad. Foremost of them is the collection of the Zoological Museum of the Academy which remains unrivalled as to material from European Russia, Siberia, and central Asia and contains many documents for zoogeography which remain well-nigh unknown, while for the study of geographical variation they are often of prime importance, as they present material collected in the respective breeding areas of a number of species which are known to the ornithologists of other countries mostly by specimens from winter quarters where different geographical forms intermingle and cannot be discriminated with certainty.

Hence I think that publishing these notes may fill up some of the gaps in our information concerning the palaearctic birds. I intend to publish them in no definite systematic sequence, at the rate of their being put in order. I have no claims to their equal

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value as to completeness. Sometimes, it may be found advisable to make known just a scrap-note which establishes an interesting fact, whereas in other cases I have been able to present a complete revision of zoogeography and geographical variation. I took advantage of my visit to the United States, England, and Germany to consult the collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, the American Museum of Natural History at New York, the U. S. National Museum at Washington, of the British Museum, Lord Rothschild's Tring Museum, and Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin, and I feel indebted to the authorities of these museums for the opportunities presented for my studies.

Dimensions, where given, are in millimeters. Wing, if not stated otherwise, measured by dividers. Length of the tail is taken from the base of the middle pair, by putting one point of dividers between.

Colors are designated after Ridgway, Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, 1912. i. Cannabina flavirostris (Linne).

Series examined.—Petersburg Museum, British Museum, Tring Museum, Sushkin collection.

Breeding range.—Mainly high Asia with Kirghiz steppe, Caucasus, and partly Asia Minor; isolated colony in the northwest of Europe. More exact limits: northwestern Persia (Bash kala and Aral keni); northeast of Asia Minor (Eregli, Erzerum); Caucasus from its north slope; Kirghiz steppe, northwest as far as the south end of Ural range (Kananikolskiy zavod) and across the steppe as far north as 49°-50°; southern, southeastern and partly central Russian Altai; northeastern Mongolia, north to the lake Uriug-nor, foot of Tannu-ola range, and Lake Sanghindalai. According to Hartert (Vog. d. palaarkt. Fauna, p. 77) goes east as far as Manchuria, but I am aware of no specimens procured east of the line drawn from Sanghin-dalai to eastern Nan-shan. Eastern Nan-shan, western Kansu, and Szechwan; Kham, upper part of the Mekong basin; southern Tibet (Gyangtze, Lhassa); Ladak, Leh, Gilgit, Shandur; Pamir, Wakhan; Bukhara, Hissar range. North border of Aral and Caspian Sea (north of eastern Persia in winter). West-European colony:

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Bretagne, England, Scandinavia; straggling east to Murman coast and Petersburg.

REVISION OF SUBSPECIES.

flavirostris (LINNE). Examined: series in British Museum and Tring Museum; Petersburg Museum. Darkest form, with dark upper side, strongly colored chest and flanks, whitish belly, and, in the male, brownish-rosy rump. Upper side dark cinnamon-brown, with broad (4-5 mm.) but little-prominent dusky centers. Upper tail-coverts with sharply defined broad (6.5 mm.) dusky centers and narrow, light-cinnamon edges. Edges of tailfeathers narrow, cinnamon. Wing-coverts dark cinnamon-brown, larger wing-coverts with narrow cinnamon tips, forming a diluted narrow wing-bar. Secondaries narrowly tipped with cinnamon; inner vane paler along the margin but without a definite edge.

Sides of the head, throat, chest and flanks cinnamon or claycolor; chest with broad (3.5-4.5 mm.) dusky (but not black) centers; center of the belly and under tail-coverts whitish, the last mostly with dark and broad shaft stripe. Rump, in the male, ocher red.

European range of the species: TERRA TYPICA restr. Sweden.

Kleinschmidt (Berajah, 1921) described the British bird as parallelicolor. Hartert (Vog. d. palaarkt. Fauna, Suppl., 1923) denies its validity. To my opinion, the British birds in series are somewhat stronger-colored below, upper side as in the darkest Swedish birds; wing-bar mostly darker. But even series are hard to distinguish, and many birds are quite identical. brevirostris (MOORE). After 37 specimens; type, British Museum, examined. Lighter and more yellowish above, paler below ; stripes of the chest very broad, black. Upper side cinnamonbrown, dusky centers of the mantle more prominent. Longest upper tail-coverts with more narrow (about 5 mm.) dusky centers and light grayish-sandy edges. Wing-coverts clove brown; wing-bar broader, whitish. Secondaries tipped with pale grayish, without a definite pale edge on inner vane. Chest and flanks pale clay-color; markings of the chest intensely black and broad (5-5.5 mm.), almost forming a paired chest-patch; belly and uropygium whitish, the last mostly without black streaks.

Rump, of the male rosy. Wing (a71) 76-77.5 mm.; bill: culmen

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from glabella 8.5-9, from nostril to tip 6.7-8. TERRA TYPICA: Erzerum; birds from Caucasus, even from the north slope of the main range, identical with those from Asia Minor. From Persia, only five rather worn specimens were available; in these dark chest markings seem to be broader and to form a more compact patch.

RANGE : northeastern Asia Minor, Caucasus, northwestern Persia. korejewi (ZARUDNY & HARMS.) . After 25 specimens. Somewhat lighter than foregoing, dusky stripes narrower and paler, inner vanes of secondaries conspicuously margined with whitish.

Lighter above, dusky streaks somewhat paler and more narrow; centers of upper tail-coverts about 4 mm.; edges of tail-feathers broader and paler. Wing-coverts snuff-brown; wing-bar as in brevirostris. Secondaries provided with a defined white edge on the inner web (more sharply defined in the male). Under side colored as in brevirostris, but dusky streaks paler and much narrower, 3-3.5 mm. Wing (c?) 73-79 mm., ( 9 ) 71-78; tail 62-66; culmen from glabella 8.5-9; from nostril to tip 6.4-7 (7.5).

TERRA TYPICA: Semiretchie. RANGE: Russian Turkestan save Pamir and Hissar range; Djair Mts., Dzungaria; Tarbagatai; Kalbinski Altai (branch of the Altai system west of Irtysh) and south of the Russian Altai (region of Marka-kul); in winter eastern Transcaspia and northeastern Persia (Utch-adshi and Mamed-abad). kirghizorum, subsp. nov. After 51 specimens. Paler and more sandy above than korejewi, streaks more narrow, edge of the inner web of secondaries better defined. Streaks of the upper side more narrow, but rather prominent, up to 3 mm. on the upper back and 3-3.5 on the upper tail-coverts; the last and the tail-feathers more broadly edged with cinnamon buff or pinkish buff; mantle with less developed cinnamon. Wing paler, wingcoverts of a brighter cinnamon tinge; wing-bar narrower and more tinged with buff; inner web of secondaries edged mostly with pure white. Under side as in the preceding, but the flanks less streaked and markings mostly narrower. Wing 73-75.5 mm., bill as in korejewi. TYPE: male, 31 August, 1904, Karabutak, Turgai province, Kirghiz steppe. RANGE: Kirghiz steppe, from south end of the Ural range in the west, east probably to Aiaguz; south to north coast of the Caspian and Aral Seas and lower Hi; in winter near Tashkent.

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montanella (HUME). After about 40 specimens. Palest, with obsolete patterns, wing-coverts without cinnamon tinge. Above grayish sandy (between avellaneous and deep olive-buff, Ridgway), without any cinnamon tinge on the back; markings narrow (3 mm. on the upper back), obsolete, and diffuse; upper tailcoverts and tail-feathers edged as in kirghizorum, but with pale smoke gray, without yellowish tinge. Wing-coverts drab to light grayish olive, without cinnamon tone; wing-bar broad, 3-5 mm., ill defined; secondaries as in kirghizorum. Under side pale, sides of the head, throat and chest tilleul-buff to pale smoke gray, center of the belly and under tail-coverts white, slightly suffused with buff; marking of the chest narrow, 2-2.5 mm., ill defined.

Rump in the male of a pale rosy. Bill compressed laterally before the tip. Wing 74-77.5 mm.; culmen from glabella 8.6-9.3; from nostril to tip 7-7.5. TERRA TYPICA: Yarkand, Chinese Turkestan. RANGE : from Gilgit and sources of Tarim to Tzaidam, and brook Gashun in Nan-shan (about 94째 east longitude), in winter at Noidshin-gol, Marco Polo range, north border of Tibet (here begins breeding range of miniakensis); to the west at the sources of Syr-daria (south of Issyk-kul Lake) and in winter in eastern Ferghana. altaica, subsp. nov. After 40 specimens. Somewhat larger than korejewi (nearly as brevirostris); differs by mealy appearance and diffuse markings of the upper side, more strongly colored under side with obsolete markings, and drab wing-coverts, without any cinnamon tinge. Above, of a mealy, dusty cinnamon, markings rather broad but diffuse; longest upper tail-coverts with broad centers, about 6 mm., narrowly edged with smoky gray; rectrices edged with light cinnamon. Wing-coverts hair brown to deep mouse-gray; wing-bar buffy whitish, about 3.5 mm.

Secondaries only paler at the border of the inner web, but not definitely margined with whitish. Throat, chest and flanks of a more saturated clay-color than in kirghizorum; chest-markings about 4 mm., pale and more diffuse; center of belly and under tail-coverts whitish (the worn garb of the spring nearly as pale as in kirghizorum] differs by mealy appearance and obsolete markings of the upper side, pale markings of the under side, absence of cinnamon on wing-coverts and of white inner edge of secondaries). Wing (cT) 75.5-80 mm., (9) 72.5-75; culmen

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8.3-9.7, mostly 8.7-9; from the nostril to the tip of the bill6.8-7.5.

TYPE: (c?), 21 October (2 November), Kobdo, northwestern Mongolia, e coll. Severtzov. RANGE: northwestern Mongolia, with southeastern Russian Altai faunally belonging to it and partly entering central Altai; east as far as Sanghin-dalai Lake; south not beyond Mongolian Altai. miniakensis JACOBI. After 33 specimens. Above dark as brevirostris but with diffuse markings; chest and flanks deep clay with rather pale dusky markings; belly and uropygium strongly colored; wing-coverts without cinnamon. Upper side cinnamon brown like dark specimens of brevirostris; dark markings broad, 4 mm., but strongly diffuse; centers of the upper tail-coverts broad, 6 mm.; rectrices narrowly edged. Wing-coverts hair brown to buffy brown; wing-bar dusty cinnamon buff, 3.5-5 mm.

Secondaries tipped with tilleul buff, not distinctly edged with whitish on the inner web. Sides of the head, throat, chest, and flanks clay-color to tawny olive; the rest of the under side, with center of the belly and uropygium, strongly colored dark pinkish buff; markings of the chest and flanks dusky, rather broad on the chest, but obsolete; throat indistinctly marked with dusky (not in preceding subspecies); uropygium mostly with dark shaft streaks. Rump in the male light or pale rosy, nearly as in montanella. Bill laterally compressed as in montanella, and lower than in the preceding subspecies. Wing (cf) 76-78.5 mm., ( 9 ) 72.5-75; culmen from glabella 9.7; from the nostril to the tip 6.57.5. Described from Dawo (Nintschung) and Tschuwo, Bameh1, between Tatsienlu and Kansego, and one and one-half days' distance northeast of Tatsienlu. RANGE : northeastern Tibet and its slope to China, in the limits: Humboldt and Marco Polo ranges in the west, upper Mekong (Menton-la) in the south, through Kuku-nor and eastern Nan-shan to Min-chou (Kansu), Sungpan, and Tatsienlu. rufostrigata WALTON. Original series, in the British Museum, examined. Similar to miniakensis, with strongly colored under side, colored belly and uropygium, and hair-brown wingcoverts; differs mainly in reddish markings of the under side, larger average size, and larger bill. Above somewhat paler, 1

German spelling, adopted in descriptions of Weigold's collection.

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more clay-colored than miniakensis^ markings more narrow, 2-3 mm., diffuse; centers of the upper tail-coverts narrower, 4 mm., light edges of tail-coverts and rectrices broader. Wing-coverts hair brown, lighter than in miniakensis; secondaries not distinctly edged on the inner web. Under side still more deeply colored with clay to tawny olive than in miniakensis, chest nearly as dark as the upper side; markings on the chest and flanks numerous, but narrower (on the chest 3 mm.), and paler than in miniakensis and strongly colored with reddish, especially on the flanks; throat with dark markings. Bill massive. Wing (cf 1 ) 79-83 mm. (specimens from Gyangtze; western birds—Leh, Ladak, Pamzeb—seem to be smaller, 79.5 down to 75); bill from nostril to tip 7.7-8. TERRA TYPICA: Kamba Jong. RANGE: southern and southeastern Tibet: Nagartse, Lhassa, Tingri, Gyangtze, Kamba Jong, Chola; Ladak; lakes Tso-moriri and Pangong; Leh; Pamzeb. pamirensis ZARUDNY & HARMS. After 15 specimens, topotypes included. Rather dark above, with strongly colored and sharply marked chest and flanks, whitish belly and uropygium, and hair-brown wing-coverts. Upper side as dark as in brevirostris; dusky markings rather well defined, upper tail-coverts and rectrices narrowly edged. Wing-coverts hair-brown; wing-bar narrow and ill defined; secondaries with narrow pale tip and without any definite light edge on the inner web. Sides of the head, throat, and chest deep clay-color, flanks somewhat paler, belly and uropygium whitish, not colored. Chest and flanks strongly striped with dusky; markings sharply defined but narrow, 3 mm.; throat with an isolated group of dark markings. Bill massive, general dimensions small. Wing (d71) 71.5-75 mm., ( 9 ) 69-74; culmen 9.7-10, from nostril to tip 8.3-8.5. TERRA TYPICA: Alai, Transalai, Pamir. RANGE: Pamir, Wakhan, Ala'i, Transalai, Peter the Great's range; probably Hissar range, Bukhara (examples, in Petersburg Museum, in very worn plumage). Specimens from Shandur-yassin somewhat uncertain.1 1

Three adult birds, extremely worn, and sixteen young ones, in molt, British Museum. Adult birds are nearest to pamirensis; the young ones are rather light, and some have well-defined white borders on the inner web of innermost secondaries. Perhaps transition to montanella?

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Following key may be useful for a rapid survey: 1. Wing-coverts colored with cinnamon or chestnut 2.

1 I. Wing-coverts drab or hair brown 5.

2. Darkest; sides of the head and chest clay-color flavirostris.

1 2. Lighter; sides of the head and chest sandy 3.

3. Markings of the chest broad (5 mm.) and black; inner web of secondaries without a definite white edge brevirostris.

1 3. Markings of the chest narrow, less deeply colored; inner web of secondaries edged with whitish 4.

4. Darker; broader stripes on the upper side; edge of the inner web of secondaries less defined korejewi.

1 4 . Paler; narrower stripes on the upper side; whitish edge of the inner web of secondaries sharply defined kirghizorum.

5. Dark markings of the under and upper side well defined (sides of the head and chest strongly colored, belly whitish) pamirensis.

1 5. Dark markings obsolete, ill defined 6.

6. Center of belly and uropygium strongly colored 7.

1 6 . Center of belly and uropygium whitish 8.

1 7. Markings of the under side dusky; bill smaller; wing (tf ) 76-79 mm., ( 9) 72-75 miniakensis.

1 7. Markings of the under side strongly reddish; bill larger; wing (cf) 79-83 mm rufostrigata.

8. More deeply colored; inner web of secondaries not edged with whitish. altaica.

1 8. Pale, sandy; inner web of secondaries edged with whitish ... .montanella.

Some points of distribution merit special attention. The species belongs mainly to High Asia including Turkestan and Kirghiz steppe. Its range in Caucasus, with adjacent parts of Asia Minor and Persia, presents an isolated colony, in the same way as with some other birds common to High Asia and Caucasus, e. g., Erythrina rubicilla, Phoenicurus erythrogastra. The darkest form is that of the countries strongly influenced by the Gulf Stream; the lightest forms are those from Kirghiz steppe and most arid part of high central Asia. As to the relations, within the group, miniakensis seems to be a darkened montanella and to this group is evidently related altaica; kirghizorum is nearly related to korejewi, and the last to brevirostris.

The European form is very strongly isolated. Dr. Stresemann (Die Herkunft der Hochgebirgsvogel Europas; Jaarbericht Club van Nederlandsche Vogelkundigen, No. 10, 1920) puts forth an interesting theory concerning it. According to Stresemann, Cannabina flavirostris has reached the alpine system of

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Europe with other immigrants from High Asia; in the postglacial time, when some alpine forms followed partly the retreating northern glacier, Canndbina flavirostris formed also a part of this migration; and then the original colony of the European alpine system died out and only its northern branch survives now in England and Scandinavia.

2. Erythrina rubicilla Giild.

Series examined.—Petersburg Museum and Sushkin collection.

Geographical distribution.—Isolated colony in Caucasus, main range. High Asia, west in eastern parts of Russian Turkestan and on Pamir, north in the central Altai (Uimon, Mt. Altyn-tu) and northwestern Mongolia (Ulankom in winter; Hangai Mts. near Uliassutai); reported to have been found in one place on the northern slope of the Sayan range (sources of Biriussa River1), not mentioned for the eastern part of the Mongolian Altai; southeast in eastern Nan-shan and on the upper Yangtze (Y-chii), south in Yarkand. Everywhere a bird of alpine zone, descending to the forest zone in autumn and winter only.

Geographical variation.—Caucasus is inhabited by the nominal form, rubicilla. The bird from " Turkestan and Yarkand' 7 has been described as severtzovi Sharpe. Birds from Altai and northwestern Mongolia have been alluded to as rubicilla or as severtzovi, but they are distinct. Erythrina rubicilloides (Przew.) is a species by itself differing from all the preceding also by its wing-formula. rubicilla GULD. Adult male: darkest. Top of the head dark carmine (between carmine and ox-blood red); upper back brown suffused with dark carmine (general color Indian red or Prussian red), stronger on the nape; rump Pompeian red. Below dull carmine, paler behind (chest between pomegranate purple and bordeaux, breast and belly pomegranate purple to spinel red).

Fore half of the top of the head and the throat with small, about 0.5 mm., sharply defined silvery-white centers; feathers of the chest and flanks larger, 3-4 mm. on the chest and up to 4.5 on the flanks, light rosy, white along the shaft. Ear-coverts with 1

Middendorff, Sibirische Reise. Specimens were lost afterwards and the bird has never been found in the Sayan system by later collectors.

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scarcely any gloss. Quills and tail-feathers dark (blackish brown 1), reddish edges of tail-feathers dark and narrow, 0.5-0.7 mm., external web of the outer tail-feathers narrowly edged with pale whitish. Adult female: mouse-gray, lower back only a little paler. Top of the head with blackish centers, about 2 mm. in width; diffuse blackish centers, darker at the shaft, all over the upper back, scapulars, and upper tail-coverts; lower back also with obsolete dark centers. Below, very strongly marked all over, dark centers of the chest rounded, about 6.5 mm.; farther behind, cuneiform, 4 mm. in width on the breast and up to 7 mm. on the under tail-coverts. Quills and tail-feathers dark as in the male, narrowly edged. severtzovi SHARPE. TERRA TYPICA: " Turkestan and Yarkand"; I take, as terra typica, the last locality as more restricted and defined. Adult male: palest, more rosy, spots larger. Top of the head rosy-red (pomegranate purple to spinel red) in its fore two-thirds. Occiput, nape, upper back and scapulars rosy grayish (russet vinaceous to brownish vinaceous), the nape being not redder than the upper back. Rump jasper pink. Below, eugenia red on the throat, getting paler behind, down to jasper red on the breast and belly. Silvery white centers of the top of the head bright, larger (up to 1.5 mm.) giving these parts a squamulated pattern, and extending almost to the occiput.

Pattern of the throat as on the pileum; center of the chest-, breast-, and flank-feathers whiter than in rubicilla and larger (4-5 mm. on the chest and breast). Ear-coverts much paler than pileum, with a strong silky gloss. Quills and tail-feathers paler (fuscous), with paler and broader edges. Adult female: much paler and more yellowish than rubicillay with more yellowish rump, markings smaller, chest more striped than spotted.

Above smoke gray to light grayish olive, rump more yellowish.

Top of the head with dusky streaks 1.5 mm. in width; on the upper back, streaks more diffuse and narrower, nearly obsolete on the scapulars, restricted to the shafts on the upper tail-coverts, and totally absent on the rump. Below, the markings are narrow, on the chest up to 3.5 mm. and cuneiform, not rounded; on the breast about 2 mm.; center of the belly without markings; markings of the under tail-coverts about 3 mm. in width only and restricted to the concealed part of each feather. Quills and

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tail-feathers pale and broad-edged as in the male. RANGE: from eastern parts of Russian Turkestan and west side of Pamir through the Chinese Turkestan to eastern Nan-shan and Y-chii River (upper course of Yangtze). Never found north of Chinese Dzungaria and central Gobi. kobdensis, subsp. nov. Twenty-six specimens examined.

Adult male: ground color between that of rubicilla and severtzovi, by the size and brightness of whitish spots, nearer to the last.

Top of the head carmine, but little lighter than in rubicilla; upper side vinaceous brown to brownish drab, of the same hue as in severtzovi but darker; occiput and nape redder than upper back.

Rump jasper red. Below rose red to begonia red, darker and more red than severtzovi. Silvery-white spots of the pileum a trifle smaller than in severtzovi and red margins broader; markings of the under side as bright as in severtzovi, but somewhat smaller.

Ear-coverts but little paler than pileum, with a very faint gloss.

Quills and tail-feathers scarcely paler than in rubicilla, narrowly edged. Adult female: as dark as rubicilla, but of a more brownish hue and yellowish tone to the rump, markings of the chest cuneiform. Above, drab to grayish olive, rump more yellow.

Dusky centers of the pileum 2.5 mm. Markings of the upper side a trifle broader than in severtzovi and distributed in the same way. Below, with dusky markings all over, markings of the chest up to 5 mm., cuneiform, on the under tail-coverts up to 6 mm. in the basal part. TYPE: male, 27 (15) February, 1887, Buyantu near Kobdo, northwestern Mongolia. RANGE: northwestern Mongolia, Kobdo, Ulankom, Hangai Mts. near Uliassutai.

In winter partly in the Central Altai, eastern part. Not known from Kentei near Urga. Extension along the Mongolian Altai east of Kobdo, unknown. Seems to be quite isolated from the foregoing by Dzungaria and central Gobi. Its breeding in Tarbagatai is doubtful; I have seen from there only one specimen, a winter bird which I was unfortunately unable to compare.

Birds from Central Altai (five breeding birds: Altyr-tu; Koorai Alps; Taldura glacier in the Chuia Alps, and two winter birds, Ongudai).—Adult male: darker above than the foregoing, but little paler than rubicilla, but with more gray upper side; top of the head darker than pomegranate purple, upper side deep liver brown to dark purple drab, rump between eugenia red and jasper

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red; below as in kobdensis; light spots as in kobdensis or a trifle smaller, but more diffuse on the chest and breast. Adult female: darker than rubicilla, with cuneiform chest-markings and with yellowish tint of the rump; compared with kobdensis darker, more brownish gray, with more heavily marked under side, darker sides of the head and throat. I am in doubt as to the value of the specimens just described, whether they should be considered as a geographical form by itself, or as lying within the limits of variation of kobdensis. My material is too scanty, and a pair of the birds identical with the northwestern Mongolian ones has been found, in winter at least, within the supposed range of the darker bird; but, on the other hand, they differ from more than one score birds which I had from northwestern Mongolia. DIMENSIONS, as well as the shape of bill, show no racial characters: wing, rubicilla (c?) 115-118 mm., (9) 117; severtzovi (rf 1 ) (112) 115-117, ( 9 ) 107-110; kobdensis (d71) 110-119, (9) 107-111; central Altai (d") 108-111, ( 9 ) 107-110; tail respectively 92-94; 84-92; 86-98; 87-90.

The forms proper to High Asia constitute evidently a group which has some characters in common, distinguishing all its members from the Caucasian bird (more grayish back, different hue of the red, and larger spots in the male, cuneiform markings of the chest and yellowish tint of rump in females).

3. Pyrrhula cassini Baird.

Dr. Hartert (Yog. d. palaarkt. Fauna, p. 96) has reckoned cassini as one of the subspecies of the Europeo-Siberian P. pyrrhula considering it as occupying an area where no other pyrrhula forms occur. In 1913, I published my observations made in the south of middle Siberia (district of Minussinsk, in particular the Lake Mazharskoie) that cassini and pyrrhula breed in the same locality, sometimes one species within some hundred yards from the other, in the same habitat and on the same level. In 1923, Dr. Hartert (Vog. d. palaarkt. Fauna, Supplement, p. 20) when quoting my observation, questions whether the birds identified by me in this particular case as P. pyrrhula pyrrhula should not be a "red-bellied variety" of P. cassini as I have not mentioned their dimensions. For reply, I should make it clear that the only reliable difference in dimensions concerns the bill, and this is

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better appreciated in its shape (which I have taken into consideration, of course) than is expressed numerically. I find, however, in the male of P. pyrrhula pyrrhula from central Russia the distance from the nostril to the tip of the bill 8.5-9.2 mm.; in the birds from Altai 8.5-9.8; in P. cassini 7.6-8.1; in P. pyrrhula pyrrhula from Mazharskoie 9.4; in P. cassini, same locality, 7.8-8; width of the mandible (at the base of the horny sheath) is, in the central-Russian P. pyrrh. pyrrhula, 9.5-10, in P. pyrrhula from Altai 9.3-9.5; in P. cassini 8.5-8.7; in P. pyrrhula from Mazharskoie 9.4; in P. cassini, same locality, 8.8-9. Thus, the dimensions, as also the shape of the bill, and the coloration, leave no doubt. (Length of wing is not diagnostic: pyrrhula, male, from central Russia 91-92.5; from Altai 90-94.5; cassini 87.5-92.)

Having examined, besides my collection, also the material of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences, I find the difference in the bill absolutely reliable. As to the coloration, I find, as a rare variation in the male of cassini, a rosy tint on the ear-coverts (one specimen from Altai) or rosy admixture, in an indistinct band about 8 mm., on the under side of the head behind the black mask, and the whole under side of a less pure cinereous (one from Krasnoyarsk). The bill is in both birds typical for cassini, and tells nothing of transition to, or crossing with, P. pyrrhula.

But, by the dimensions and the shape of the bill, P. cassini is identical with P. griseiventris from which it differs in color only and which it represents also geographically. I thus consider griseiventris and cassini as distinct only sub specifically when separating them specifically from pyrrhula. Traces of rosy color on the ear-coverts or under side in cassini I consider as reminiscences of coloration observed in griseiventris.

4. Petronia petronia (Linne).

FORMS OF HIGH ASIA WITH TURKESTAN AND KIRGHIZ STEPPE.

intermedia HARTERT. TERRA TYPICA: Gilgit. Series in Petersburg Museum, Tring Museum and British Museum examined.

In autumn, ground color of the upper side somewhat darker than drab or more yellowish, lower back and rump inclining to grayish olive. Lateral stripes of the crown sepia color; they are, like the light stripe between them, clearly marked up to the base of the bill. Dark stripe above the ear-coverts clearly marked. Ear-

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coverts not darker than the eyebrow stripe. Dusky markings of the upper side about 3 mm. in width; buffy tips of the rump and upper tail-coverts strongly developed. Below, marked with diffuse earth-brown to olive brown nearly all over. Light tips of the under tail-coverts small, about 5 mm. Tail-feathers dark as in pelronia. Bill somewhat longer and thinner than in petronia, recalling in shape smaller specimens of exigua, distance from the nostril to the tip exceeding its height at the base. Wing (specimens from Naryn, upper Syr-daria) 92.5-97 mm.; culmen from glabella 17-18, from the limit of the horny sheath, (clearly marked in Petronia by a tiny skin-fold) 14.5-15.5; from nostril to tip 11-11.7; height at the base 10-10.5. Compared in series, Turkestan birds are of a more yellowish brown and Gilgit birds incline to a more'grayish olive, but taken singly they are not distinguishable and many specimens are ambiguous. RANGE: Gilgit; Kandahar (identical with those from Gilgit), Persia, Isfagan (Ardall)1, Transcaspia, Buchara, Russian Turkestan with Pamir, eastern Turkestan as far along Tian-shan as Hami (Taushkandaria, Bagrach-kul, Lukchun; specimens from Russian Turkestan, Chinese Turkestan, Bukhara and Transcaspia quite identical).

Not known from Kwen-lun system till Burkhan-buddha where another form begins to occur. (One bird from Kohat, India northwestern frontier, British Museum,—unfortunately, only one in the collection from this locality—is very dark, nearly buffy brown on the nape and lower back.) In Tarbagatai no Petronia occurs. kirhizica, subsp. nov. Series in Petersburg Museum, 5 in Sushkin's collection. Pale birds, paler and less variegated above and less marked, more whitish below than intermedia. Dark lateral stripes and light medial stripes of the crown clearly marked almost to the forehead, ground color above between smoke gray and olive buff; lateral stripes of the crown drab to hair brown; medial stripe on the occiput dirty vinaceous buff to olive buff. Earcoverts pale. Center of the throat whitish, distinct from the sides of the throat. Markings of the under side very obsolete, belly and center of the breast broadly whitish; centers of the 1

Birds from Northwestern Persia— "Elburs near Tehran" and "Persia" — coll. by Blanford, British Museum, belong to exigua Heilm.

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under tail-coverts very pale. Tail-feathers pale. Bill nearly as in intermedia. Wing 91-95 mm.; culmen from the limit of horny sheath 13.5-14.6; from nostril to tip 11-12; height of the bill 10-10.7. Very distinct subspecies, formerly confounded, also by myself, with brevirostris from which it differs by its bill which is thick but not short and by the stripes of the crown being clearly marked off as far as the forehead. TYPE: 11 September (29 August) 1862, Khanga-bala (northeast of the Caspian Sea), Karelin; Petersburg Museum. RANGE: Great Bogdo Mt. (Lower Wolga, 48°) and Lake Inderskoie, hills; northeast of the Caspian Sea; middle Kirghiz steppe (Emba River at 48°; Karabutak; fault Bozyngen-noora north of the lake Chalkar-Tenghiz). brevirostris and Allied Forms.

The remainder of the range of P. petronia in High Asia— Mongolia with southeastern Russian Altai and southern Transbaikalia, and northeastern Tibet with its slope toward China—is inhabited by several forms which have been included under brevirostris Taczanowski; lately, Dr. A. Jacobi (Zoolog. Ergebn. d. Walter Stotzner'schen Expedition) has described tibetana, and, besides these two, two more have the same claim for distinction.

All these are nearly related, possessing, as common characters distinguishing them from all others:—thick and short bill, in which the length from the nostril is less than the height of the bill at its base; lateral dark stripes and medial light stripe of the crown clearly set off on the occiput only and quite indistinct in the fore half of the crown; markings generally diffuse, above and below. Most extreme forms are those from Transbaikalia (darkest), and from northwestern Mongolia (palest). brevirostris TACZANOWSKI. TERRA TYPICA: Argun, southern Transbaikalia. Five specimens examined. General characters of the group, see above. Darkest of the whole group, scarcely lighter than petronia] darker and more gray than intermedia, and more uniform. Ground color above drab or between drab and grayish olive; lateral stripes of the crown olive-brown; medial patch on the occiput between light drab and light grayish olive; ear-coverts darker than eyebrow-stripe; above them an indistinct dark stripe. Dusky streaks of the upper side about 2.5 mm. in width. Upper tail-coverts indistinctly tipped with pale.

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Light tips of greater wing-coverts 2-2.5 mm. Basal pale field of the innermost secondaries not connected along their inner web with the pale tip. Markings of the under side indistinct, on the flanks of a dark, olive brown. Under tail-coverts with rather small pale tips not concealing the basal dark part. Rectrices dark as in pelronia. Smaller than others; wing 92-93.5 mm.; culmen from the base of horny sheath 12.5-13; from nostril to tip 9.8-10.2; height at the base 10-10.3. RANGE: southern Transbaikalia: Kiakhta, Aghinskoia steppe (river Aga, tributary of Shilka); Kulussutaievsk (near 115° east longitude and 50° north latitude); Argun River. urgensis, subsp. nov. Eleven specimens examined, Petersburg Museum. Paler than foregoing by two "tones" (Ridgway, 1912 ed.) and more olive grayish; general color above between light drab and light grayish olive, in a quite fresh plumage inclining to dark olive buff; eyebrow-stripe vinaceous buff to pale smoke gray. Upper tail-coverts scarcely paler at the tips. Pale tips of greater wing-coverts larger, 3-3.5 mm. Inner web of innermost secondaries paler along the whole inner margin, connecting thus basal pale field with pale tip. Markings of the under side paler generally, absent on the most part of the breast, on the flanks of a rather pale drab, feebly contrasting with the ground color. Somewhat larger than breviroslris: wing 95-99.5 mm.; culmen from the base of horny sheath 12.2-14, from nostril to tip 10-10.2, height at the base 9.6-10. TYPE: male, 28 (15) January, 1908, Urga, Kozlov leg., Petersburg Museum. RANGE: eastern Mongolia from Urga to Dalai-nor Lake (south end of Khingan range) and Dolon-nor town (north of Peking);" central Gobi" (no more exact locality). tibetana JACOBI. TERRA TYPICA: Kansego, and Tchuwo between Kansego and Tschango (German spelling, by Weigold); about 31° north latitude and 100° 20'-100° 40' east longitude, slope of northeastern Tibet to China. Specimens examined, 13 Petersburg Museum. Similar to urgensis, paler than breviroslris but somewhat darker, and more buffy brown than urgensis', end spots of greater and middle wing-coverts smaller, and not occupying the whole width of the tip of a feather; eyebrow always tinged with olive buff; flank markings darker. Wing 96-101 mm.; culmen from the base of horny sheath 12.4-14, from nos-

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tril to tip 10-11, height at the base 9.4-10.2. RANGE: northeastern Tibet, eastern Nan-shan, and region of Kuku-nor: Kansego and Tschuwo between Kansego and Tschango; Di-chti (= upper Yangtze); eastern Nan-shan, in particular Tsing-ning-tschou, Si-ning ( = Hsi-ning), Gui-dui (=Kwei-te); southwestern corner of Kuku-nor, South Kuku-nor range, Burkhan-buddha range (monastery Shanrdi or Shang-err-ti). mongolica, subsp. nov. Specimens examined: 31, Petersburg Museum, Sushkin's collection. Palest form of the brevirostris group. Much paler than brevirostris, somewhat paler and of more olive-yellowish color than urgensis (old birds approaching more yellow individuals of the young urgensis). General color drab inclining to yellowish olive. Upper tail-coverts with illdefined pale tips more developed than in other members of the group. Greater and middle wing-coverts with larger buffy tips than in others (4,5 and 4 mm.). Flank markings pale, avellaneous inclining to more yellowish. Superciliary stripe buffy in all plumages. (From intermedia, which is similar by the general tint, differs by being a trifle paler, by less variegated back, pale tips of supracaudals more obsolete and not extending to the lower back, markings of the under side obsolete and nearly confined to the chest and flanks, different pattern of the crown.) Wing 9298 mm.; culmen from the base of horny sheath 12.4-13.6, from nostril to tip 10-11.5, height at the base 9.4-10. TYPE: male, 13 September (31 August), 1899, Altain-nuru (= Mongolian Altai) on the meridian of Kobdo, Kozlov leg., Petersburg Museum.

RANGE: northwestern Mongolia extending into southeast of Russian Altai, i. e.; Sailiigen range and plateau Ukok; Mongolian Altai as far east as Artza Bogdo; north to Urihg-nor, Uliassutai and Murun River near Kosogol Lake.

5. Pyrgilauda davidana Verr.

Specimens examined: Zoological Museum, Petersburg, 25; British Museum, 8; Sushkin's collection, 26.

RANGE: Northern, central and southeastern Mongolia and Kuku-nor region; not in northeastern Mongolia; limits determined by localities: basin of Kobdo (extending over the western slope of Sailughem range, Russian Altai); slopes of Khangai near Uliassutai; 100 kilometers south of Urga; Dolon-nor (north of

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Peking); Kara-ussu ca. 60 km. west of Kalgan; northern Ordos (northern bend of Hwang-ho); eastern Nan-shan and mountains around Kuku-nor; central Gobi (Gooli wells,); Mongolian Altai.

Occasional in the south of West Siberia (Kokchetav).

Subspecies of Pyrgilauda davidana. davidana VERR. ["Montagnes du Thibet chinois";—ouratensis Swinh., " Oulashan," i. e. Ala-shan= kansuensis Przevalsky "Gan-su," i. e. eastern Nan-shan (the last—young bird, type, in Petersburg Museum—examined)]. Southeast of the range, from Kuku-nor and Nan-shan to Dolon-nor. Darker, more earth-brown (between Saccardo's umber and buffy brown) above, with rather prominent ill-defined dark centers all over the mantle. potanini, subsp. nov. Northwestern and northern Mongolia, from Kobdo basin to Urga, Mongolian Altai, and central Gobi. Much paler, more sandy (between wood brown and dark olive buff) above, dark centers paler, more dilute and nearly restricted to the upper back. TYPE : adult male, 15 August, 1914, Khara-djamaty, basin of Kobdo, collection of Sushkin. Named in honor of late G. Potanin, one of the Russian explorers of Mongolia.

In both forms, the bill never gets black all over as it does, e. g., in Montifringilla nivalis in the breeding season, nor does it show seasonal changes. Sexes alike, but in the female the black throat-patch is smaller by one-half and the black frontal band is twice to thrice as narrow as in the male. In the autumn plumage, the black frontal band in the adult male is partly covered by grayish edges of the feathers and gets narrower; in the female, it gets concealed totally.

6. Cynchramus pallasii Cab.

General distribution.—From Yenissei to the extreme east of Siberia, or perhaps even from Ural across northern Siberia; northsouth range from the zone of the tundra as far south as 60° north latitude, and alpine region of the ranges as far south as Tian-shan system and eastern Nan-shan. Details of distribution not yet quite cleared up. Certainly extends through the tundra region from Yenissei eastward, going north as far as Boganida

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and delta of the Kolyma River. Once, in June, on the eastern slope of the middle Ural range, province of Perm, near Karabolka or Karabolskoie (adult male, full breeding plumage, Sabaneef leg.j Petersburg Museum), which may show its occurrence also through the northern zone of western Siberia, i. e., west of Yenissei. Southernmost breeding localities in the lowlands: Podvolochnaia on the upper course of the lower Tunguzka, and Udskoi Ostrog, Okhotsk Sea. Farther south breeds in mountains above the timber line; certainly known from: southeastern Russian Altai; eastern Sayan Mts. near the sources of Mana, of Kazyr, and at the southern Baikal; Khangai range, northwestern Mongolia, at the sources of Etyr, tributary of Selenga; central Tian-shan; Ala-shan range; eastern Nan-shan (from the last two localities only adult birds taken in August, but in very worn plumage, certainly local).

Geographical variation.—Three geographical forms; details of distribution not quite clear. (a) Breeding birds from Taimyr peninsula; summer bird from eastern slope of the Ural range; migrants near Krasnoyarsk.

Palest form: male, with very broad and pale borders of the feathers of the upper side; black centers of the mantle 3 to 4 mm. broad; light color prevailing; light patterns strongly mixed with white, in spring nearly white on the mantle, quills, and greater wing-coverts; rump and upper tail-coverts pale gray, uniform, the longest only with scarcely perceptible dusky shadow along the shaft; flanks not streaked at all, or with very few fine shaftlines behind. Female, with narrow dusky centers above, on the crown 1-1.5 mm. broad; chest and flanks with scattered fine reddish-brown streaks; general color above light cinnamon. Wing, cf, 66-72.5 mm.; 9 , 66-67.

(6) Kolyma River; upper course of the lower Tunguska; Transbaikalia. Male, darker and more tinged with cinnamon than the preceding, with no pure white on the back and on the wing-coverts; black centers of the back a trifle broader; borders of middle and greater wing-coverts pinkish buff to pinkish cinnamon; rump and upper tail-coverts of a darker gray, with dusky streaks, and with broad dusky shadows on the longest coverts; flanks with fine blackish streaks. Female, darker and more brown than the preceding; chest and flanks with broader

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and more numerous reddish-brown streaks. Size as in the preceding. (c) Altai; Tian-shan; Ala-shan and eastern Nan-shan (birds from the last two localities in a very worn plumage). Much darker than other forms. Male in summer with prevailing black color above, black centers broad, 5-7.5 mm., borders of the wingcoverts and quills pale cinnamon to pinkish buff; rump and upper tail-coverts dark gray, mostly with dusky streaks and centers; flanks streaked. Female, dark brownish cinnamon, dusky centers broad, on the crown 2.5-3.5 mm.; streaks of the chest and flanks dark brown. Larger: wing, cf1, 71.5-77; 9 , 67.5-71.5. After 17 specimens from Altai (14, Sushkin's collection; 1, Petersburg Museum; 2, Museum Comparative Zoology) and specimens from Tian-shan (Petersburg Museum).

Nomenclature.—For two forms, old names are available. For the form 6, the name pallasii Cabanis may be used, after the occurrence of this form in Transbaikalia (no type; based on Emberiza schoeniclus 0. Pallas, Zoogr., Transbaikalia, " especially in the willow bush along the Selenga River"). Then, for the form a, the name polaris Middendorff (Middendorff, Sibirische Reise, terra typica, Boganida) is certain. The form c is new:— montana, subsp. nov. TYPE, male, 16 July, 1914, plateau of Chulyshman, southeastern Russian Altai, collected by Sushkin; Sushkin's collection.

V

7. Emberiza godlewskii Tacz.

Systematical relations.—Dr. E. Hartert (Vog. d. palaarkt.

Fauna) considers godlewskii, as well as ynnnanensis and omissa, as subspecies of cia together with other forms more intimately related to the last. Certainly, cia and godlewskii are near relatives and seem to occur nowhere together as breeding.birds. But, as it was pointed out first by Dr. E. Hesse (Uebersicht einer Vogelsammlung aus dem Altai; Mitteilungen Zool. Mus. Berlin, vol. 6, no. 3, 1913) and later by Dr. A. Jacobi (Zoologische Ergebnisse der Walter Stotzner'schen Expedition, 1922), they form independent groups of variation presenting each several geographical forms; they do not intergrade, and they differ in the amount of sexual difference. I may add, that godlewskii and ciay in the localities where their areas meet (Russian Altai and

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Tian-shan) show not even an approach in characters, their variations going on quite independently: cia is represented in Tianshan, Tarbagatai and southern Russian Altai (basin of Bukhtarma River and Marka-kul) by the same, rather pale form, par, whereas godlewskii is represented in Altai by one of the darkest forms, godlewskii, and in Tian-shan by its palest form, decolorata, which I am describing here. Then, in all forms of cia, the earcoverts are bordered behind by a black stripe which connects the malar stripe with the black sides of the crown; in godlewskii, corresponding stripe, of a dark chestnut, is well defined only in some forms from the extreme orient of the area—also in the forms which are the remotest geographically from cia. The male assumes its definite plumage already in the first autumn and the female is mostly not distinct from the male at least in most subspecies; in cia, the young male differs from the adult one; the female approaches with age the coloration of the male but seems never to become identical with it.

I prefer therefore, to consider godlewskii and cia as separate species.

Geographical distribution.—Most part of high central Asia, with its northern border and its slopes and ranges running into China; not in southwestern Tibet, Kashmir, Pamir, and Russian Turkestan. Frontier localities: Chinese Turkestan (appearing in Russian Turkestan, near Naryn, upper Syr-Daria, only in winter); Russian Altai save its southern part (that is, basin of Bukhtarma and Marka-kul) and wooded northeast corner; south of Minussinsk district and Uriankh Land; southern end of the Lake Baikal; southern Transbaikalia; Kingam Mts.; west of Chihli Province; Tsingling Mts.; western Szechwan; western Yunnan; southern Tibet as far west as Mt. Everest.

Materials examined.—Specimens in Petersburg Museum, Berlin Museum, British Museum, Tring Museum, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass.; Sushkin's collection.

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION.

godlewskii TACZ. Examined: Petersburg Museum, British Museum, Tring Museum, Sushkin's collection; 35 specimens.

General coloration, intense and dusky. Male early in spring: gray of the head, throat and chest between neutral gray and dark

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dull gray; ground color of the back buffy brown to hair brown, more reddish near the dark centers; rump and upper tail-coverts between hazel brown and kaiser brown; borders of the wingcoverts and quills tawny olive; breast and belly orange cinnamon; sides of the crown vandyke brown. In autumn, the back verona brown to snuff brown, rump and upper tail-coverts kaiser brown, under side more reddish and dirty than in spring. Black centers of the back 1.5-2.5 mm.; only very rarely some brown streaks at the posterior border of ear-coverts; central pair of tail-feathers with narrow dusky centers; on the under side, center of the belly and tail-coverts paler than flanks and breast.

Wing, 78-91 mm; tail 74-87. One of the cotypes: Kultuk, southern Baikal, in the British Museum. RANGE: central and northwestern Russian Altai; south of Minussink district; Uriankh Land; southern end of Baikal; western Transbaikalia; in winter Kobdo, northwestern Mongolia. nanshanica, subsp. nov. Examined: 27, Petersburg Museum; 8, British Museum. Considerably paler all'over, more reddish above, black centers of the back as in godlewskii; indistinct chestnut streaks at the hind border of ear-coverts. Early in spring, sides of the head, throat and chest light neutral gray or a trifle paler; back between cinnamon and clay color; borders of greater wing-coverts and quills nearly cinnamon; rump and upper tail-coverts tawny; below cinnamon buff; sides of the crown of a dark russet. In autumn, back cinnamon to wood brown, rump and upper tail-coverts orange cinnamon; borders of quills and greater wing-coverts vinaceous cinnamon to cinnamon; under side pinkish cinnamon to light pinkish cinnamon. Wing, 76-89 mm.; tail 74-86. TYPE: male, April; Churmyk River, basin of the upper Hwang-ho, Przevalski leg.] Petersburg Museum.

RANGE : basin of the upper Hwang-ho east as far as Lang-tchou-fu, south as far as Churmyk River (probably, the Amne-machin range forms the southern frontier); southern Kuku-nor range as far west as Gurban-angyr-gol; eastern Nan-shan; western side of the Ala-shan range. In winter also in the central Gobi, and on the Min River (identified by Dr. Jacobi as omissa] I have examined one specimen, from Tsanpo, Min River, 2 January 1915, Weigold leg., Berlin Museum). decolorata, subsp. nov. Examined: 35, Petersburg Museum;

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4, Sushkin's collection; 2, British Museum. Palest of all; above sandy with narrow black centers; borders of wing-coverts and quills broad; ear-coverts bordered behind with reddish-brown markings. Male in spring: sides of the head and throat paler than light neutral gray; sides of the crown russet; back of a dull sandy buff (lighter and more yellowish than wood brown); borders of greater wing-coverts and quills broader than in others, of a wood-brown color; scapulars, rump and upper tail-coverts between tawny and cinnamon; breast and belly light pinkish cinnamon, paler on the center of belly and under tail-coverts.

In autumn, gray coloration, pale neutral gray, sides of the crown natal brown, back between smoke gray and olive buff, borders of wing-coverts and quills olive buff to vinaceous buff, rump and upper tail-coverts cinnamon or paler; below somewhat paler than in spring. Black centers of the upper side 1-1.5 mm. broad.

Dark parts of wing-feathers paler than in others. Wing 80-81 mm., tail 78-87. TYPE:-male, February 1913, Naryn, upper course of Syr-daria, Russian Turkestan; Dacenko leg.] Sushkin's collection. RANGE: generally Chinese Turkestan: region of Kashgar and southern slope of Kok-shaal; southern slopes and branches of eastern Tian-shan from Yulduss to Hami; ranges south of Yarkand (Kinj valley). In winter in Russian Turkestan on upper Syr-daria.1 omissa ROTHSCH. Examined: 8, Tring Museum; 6, British Museum; 10, Museum of Comparative Zoology; 2, Petersburg Museum. Darker and more reddish than godlewskii, lateral stripes of the crown broader than gray interspace and fused on the forehead; ear-coverts very distinctly bordered behind with reddish brown. Size small. Gray color a little lighter than in godlewskii] lateral stripes of the crown intense and more red (between bay and chestnut), broader than in godlewskii—broader than gray medial stripe—and largely fused on the forehead, especially so in the male; ear-coverts bordered posteriorly with reddish brown, more distinctly than in any other form. Back sayal brown to hazel; black centers as in godlewskii] borders of greater wing-coverts and quills sayal brown; scapulars, rump and 1

Dr. A. Jacobi (I. c.) seems to have taken this form for true godlewskii of which he tells as of a " large pale form."

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upper tail-coverts kaiser brown to burnt sienna, in worn plumage hazel. Scapulars mostly with black shaft-streaks. Under side brighter than in godlewskii, orange cinnamon to cinnamon, and more uniformly colored. Wing 70-83 mm. (cf, 77-83; 9, 70-75); tail 73-82. TYPE: Tsingling Mts., Tai-pai-shan; Tring Museum. RANGE: northern Szechwan (Lung-ang-fu), and along Tsingling range (specimens from Tai-pai-shan, and from northern Hupeh, coll. by Zappey); probably also breeding birds from Sungpang, valley of the upper course of Min. yunnanensis SHARPE. Examined: 36, British Museum; 17, Tring Museum. Darkest of all; similar to the preceding, but darker all over, more rusty on the back, with broader black centers, and with narrower borders of the wing-coverts—gray color as dark or darker than in godlewskii] lateral stripes of the crown intense and bright, dark chestnut, broader than gray medial stripe, and largely fused on the forehead; medial gray stripe heavily streaked with black; ear-coverts indistinctly margined behind with brown. Back bright cinnamon brown to russet; black centers broad, 3-3.5 mm.; borders of greater wingcoverts and quills narrow and dark, nearly umber brown; scapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts bright and dark chestnut but, owing to bright and strongly reddish coloration of the upper back, differ from it less, than in other forms. Breast, belly, under tail-coverts and flanks tawny or inclining to ochraceous tawny, brighter and of a more orange hue than in godlewskii and nearly uniform. Wing 73-85 mm., tail 69-77; also wing not shorter than in omissa, but the tail decidedly shorter. RANGE: mountains of northwestern Yunnan; Lichiang or Likiang range; Gyi-dzin-shan east of Tali-fu; Ichang on the upper Yangtzekiang (not to be confounded with Ichang on middle Yangtze). khamensis, subsp. nov. Examined: 8, Petersburg Museum; 7, British Museum; Tring Museum; 16, Museum of Comparative Zoology. Darker and more cinnamon above than godlewskii but duller than omissa] side stripes of the crown not distinctly fused on the forehead; ear-coverts not definitely bordered behind; size nearly as in godlewskii. Gray color lighter than in godlewskii (lighter than light neutral gray); side stripes of the crown bright, liver brown, and broad, but not distinctly fused on the forehead; ear-coverts bordered behind only by ill-defined reddish-brown

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streaks; back darker and of a more cinnamon hue than in godlewskii but duller and more inclining to wood brown than in omissa; black centers averaging broader than in both; scapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts nearly burnt sienna, in worn plumage hazel to cinnamon rufous; scapulars mostly with black shaft lines in the posterior half of the group. Breast and belly somewhat more yellowish than cinnamon, nearly uniformly colored. Wing, cf, 81-91 mm., 9 76-80; tail, cf1, 75-87. TYPE: River Dza-chu (upper Mekong), Kham, 23 September, 1 October, 1901, male, Kozlov leg., Petersburg Museum. RANGE: southern and eastern Tibet to Kharta, north foot of Mt. Everest; Gyangtze; Kham (Dy-chu, Dza-chu, Dzeh-chu, Bar-chu); Ta-tsien-lu; heights 8-12,500 feet. Isolated colony on Washan (near Omei, western Szechwan), 5-700 feet. Washan birds seem to be smaller (only three specimens examined, wing, cf, 78; 9 , 74 and 75) and a little more reddish, but the series is too small, and certainly they are nearest to this form and have nothing to do with yunnanensis. bangsi, subsp. nov. Examined: 2, Petersburg Museum; 5, British Museum; 4, Museum of Comparative Zoology. Reddish above, lighter than omissa, with narrow black center of the back, rather narrow side stripes of the crown which are not fused on the forehead, and with no definite bordering of the ear-coverts.

Throat colored as in godlewskii, but the sides of the head, medial stripe of the crown, and supercilium lighter; side stripes of the crown rather narrow, not broader than the medial gray stripe, and not fused anteriorly; coloration more chestnut than in godlewskii• ear-coverts not bordered behind with brown; back strongly reddish, lighter than in omissa] black centers narrow, 1-1.5 mm.; scapulars, rump and upper tail-coverts brighter (more orange) than in godlewskii and lighter than in omissa, scapulars mostly with no shaft-lines; central pair of tail-feathers with narrow dark center and broad rusty margin. Below somewhat brighter and more orange than godlewskii, center of the belly and subcaudals decidedly paler than the chest and flanks. Wing 77-86 mm.; tail 78-85. TYPE: Pashui, Shansi, China, 14 September 1921, male; F. R. Wulsin leg.; No. 87699, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass. RANGE: southern Manchuria (Wei-chan, 118° east longitude, 42° north latitude), Chihli (Chih-feng, Peking, Pao-ting-fu), Shansi (Pashui-ko, Wu-dai-

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hai); once in winter, northern Hupeh (Hsien-shan-hsien, Mus. Comp. Zool., No. 50489, male, very typical).

Remarks.—Some specimens of khamensis in worn plumage look very dull colored when compared with omissa. One specimen like this, from Gyangtze, southern Tibet, 31 May 1905, has been identified by Dr. E. Hartert as typical godlewskii (Vog. d. palaarkt. Fauna, Suppl. I.).

Dr. A. Jacobi (I. c.) distinguishes, among the materials collected

by Weigold, two forms which he calls (1) yunnanensis, from Washan (near Omei) and Jetan (middle Yangtze near Ichang), (2)? omissa (query by Dr. A. Jacobi) from three groups of localities: (a) Chihli, (6) Min Eiver from Tsangpo to Sungpan, and (c) Ta-tsien-lu and Batang. Unfortunately, Dr. A. Jacobi had no specimens of oramaand yunnanensis for comparison, and seems to have had no true godlewskii also, as he calls it, "large pale (italics are mine) form." From Batang and Ta-tsien-lu, young birds only were in the collection, and Dr. Jacobi identifies them doubtfully. I had an opportunity to examine birds both from Tatsien-lu and Washan (Zappey leg.) and found them to belong to khamensis. Summer birds from Sungpang, identified by Dr. Jacobi as omissa by geographical reasons, belong probably to this form. Winter birds from Min valley may belong to several forms; one specimen from Tsangpo, January, examined by me in the Berlin Museum, is my nanshanica. As to the birds from Chihli, I consider them as a separate form, recalling as a matter of fact, omissa but certainly different (cf. above).

8. Emberiza spodocephala Pall.

Specimens examined: in Petersburg Museum; Sushkin's collection; Museum of Comparative Zoology.

GEOGHAPHICAL FORMS AND DISTRIBUTION.

spodocephala PALL. From Udskoi-ostrog (Okhotsk Sea) and Zeia River (basin of Amur) as far as northeastern Altai (Lake Teletzkoie); northward as far as Vilui. Perhaps an isolated colony in the Ala-shan range (Ucheten-gol River).

There is an incipient slight geographical variation within the subspecies. Adult males inhabiting eastern part of the range are more yellow on the under parts and more western specimens

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tend to become whitish underneath; birds from Irkutsk and farther east are yellowish below; on the upper course of lower Tunguzka both types occur; but the individual variations overlap; and the specimen from Ala-shan is very pale below. melanops BLYTH. Lower Amur basin, from Zeia River on (where this form and spodocephala meet), Ussuri Land, Korea and through western China as far as Kansu (Kwei-to, Si-ning, Hui-hsiang) and western Szechwan (Washan, Kwan). personata TEMM. Japan. sachalinensis, subsp. nov. Similar to personata. Upper side more olive grayish, less rufescent, flanks but scantily streaked.

In the adult male (once in an adult female) sides of the chest broadly colored with cinereous; in some, a narrow gray bar runs across, bordering the yellow throat behind and separating it from yellow center of the chest. Size as in personata; 12 specimens examined. TYPE: adult male, Alexandrovka, Saghalin; Petersburg Museum. RANGE: Saghalin Island.

9. Emberiza elegans Temm.

Specimens examined.-—-Petersburg Museum, 43; British Museum, 91.

Range.—Japan; Korea and Amurland as far west as Bureia Mts.; mountains and hills of western China from Shensi (and southernmost Chihli) through Szechwan south to Lichiang range and Gyi-dzin-shan (east of Ta-li), Yunnan and (winter) Ching-tung, southern Yunnan; in winter plentiful in lower parts of China: Shanghai, Fo-kien, Kiang-su.

SUBSPECIES.

elegans TEMM. Upper side strongly colored with chestnut, feathers of the back chestnut or bay, edged with dirty cinnamon to wood brown, with narrow (1.5 mm.) black streaks. Flanks strongly streaked, streaks orange brown (auburn) with black; gray on the nape of the male rather little developed, with narrow black markings. Eyebrow stripe mostly colored with yellow only behind the orbit. RANGE: Japan; seems never to visit the continent. sibirica, subsp. nov. Lighter above, chestnut color of the back-feathers and their edges paler, the last dirty pinkish to

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light olive buff; flanks less abundantly streaked, streaks narrower, paler, and mostly without black; nape in the male broadly cinereous, in old birds heavily marked with black; gray on the lower back more developed than in the preceding. Eyebrows as in the preceding. TYPE: male, Sidemi, Jankowski leg., Petersburg Museum. RANGE: Korea and Amurland as far west as Bureia Mts.; exact southern limit unknown; in winter surely this form occurs near Peking and is plentiful at Shanghai, Fo-kien and Kiangsu. Some form of elegans breeds in northeast Chihli (7 April-18 May, Tschangschanjii and Bago near Jegol, after Weigold); Jacobi does not distinguish these birds from those of Szechwan. elegantula SWINH. Darkest form. Upper side darker and duller (auburn or darker) with broad (2 mm. and more) black streaks and dirty-cinnamon edges. Nape and lower back dark cinereous with broad black markings; streaks of flanks broad and plentiful as in elegans, but of a brownish-black color, only suffused partly with chestnut on edges. Yellow color of the eyebrows mostly extending anterior to the orbit. TYPE examined: female, 18 April, 1869, Kwei-chow, Hupeh (original label Kweitchow, Hoopit), Swinhoe leg., British Museum. RANGE: Shensi (Cheng-ping-hsien and Lang-chua-kow), Chang-Youn (presumably = Chang iian, extreme south of Chihli; or Changyang, Hupeh?), Szechwan (Lung 'an-fu; Tschungking, Kwan, Waschan (German spelling by Weigold); Hupeh (Ichang), Kweichow prov., Yunnan (Lichiang range; Gyi-dzin-shan; Ching-tung; the last locality, southern Yunnan, 4 March—perhaps not within the breeding range). Evidently does not descend into plains (the same after Weigold's observations, Zool. Ergebn. d. Walter Stotzner'schen Expedition). Seems to be isolated geographically from the preceding by a gap.

10. Budytes flava (Linne).

FOBMS OF GREY-HEADED WAGTAILS BREEDING IN ASIA.

Under this heading I discuss only gray-headed Yellow Wagtails. I do not enter here into systematics of the black-headed wagtails nor into the question of their taxonomic value, whether they are specifically or subspecifically distinct from the greyheaded wagtails.

As to the yellow-headed green-backed wagtail, Budytes lutea

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(Gmel.) = Budytes campestris (Pallas), I will mention here only that its east-European and west-Siberian form, B. lutea lutea, breeds from the provinces Samara, Ufa (southern half of the last) and Orenburg through the northern part of the Kirghiz steppe and southern part of West Siberia about as far as the upper and middle course of Irtysh River (Pavlodar; Yamyshevski; Georgievak on the south slope of Kalbinski Altai), largely covering the area of Bud. flava beema and breeding in the same localities and habitats as I have personally observed in the province of Ufa, and in the Middle Kirghiz steppe (province of Turgai). Thus its specific value stands the test of breeding together with an allied form. But I am inclined to consider the East Siberian Budytes taivana Swinhoe as belonging to the same group, or even species, with lutea, all three forms—rayi, lutea, and taivana,—presenting now isolated relics of a former vast distribution. I hope to return to this question. thunbergi BILLBERG. Dimensions (after specimens from Murmansk coast, Russian Lapland, collection Petersburg Museum): wing 80-83 mm.; tail 69-71; tarsus 25; hind toe 9.2-10; hind claw 8.7-9.5; bill from the nostril to the tip 9.1-9.5. RANGE (in Asia): most eastern breeding point known, lower Ob, Ustremskiia-yurty (on the lower Yenissei another subspecies breeds); exact southern range unknown. On migration rather common in the Kirghiz steppe and Turkestan, once (occasionally!) on the upper course of lower Tunguzka at 58° north latitude. plexus THAYER AND BANGS (Proc. New England Zool. Club, vol. 5, p. 41,1910; for descriptions see also Riley, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 54, p. 607-626,1918). Examined: 18 specimens, Petersburg Museum; 6 specimens, Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Differs from thunbergi (specimens from Murmansk coast, Russian Lapland) in duller and more grayish back, gray color of the crown being the same as in thunbergi or a trifle lighter but passing more gradually into the coloration of the back, and by duller borders of wing-coverts; very narrow white superciliary stripe mostly (one specimen of my 18 excepted) present, sometimes incomplete, before the orbit or above the ear-coverts only; dusky patches mostly on the sides of the throat, rarely absent altogether, once forming a complete collar as in thunbergi; ear-coverts blackish as in thunbergi. Of the females, one with broad white eye-

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brow. Dimensions not markedly different from thunbergi; wing 79-82 mm.; tail 66-74; tarsus 22.2-24.6; hind toe 9.2-10; hind claw 8-10; bill from the nostril to the tip 9.2-10. Well-characterized form and in no way identical with simillima Hartert, from which it is easily distinguishable by duller and more grayish back, and by the color of the crown passing gradually into that of the back, also by blackish ear-coverts. TERRA TYPICA: NishneKolymsk. RANGE: north of eastern Siberia from lower Yenissei on, excepting the extreme east (Doodinka on the lower Yenissei, and Bay of Yenissei; Bulun; Verkhoyansk; Nishne-Kolymsk).

On migration, coast of the Okhotsk Sea (Udskoi-ostrog) and basin of the lower Amur (Sidemi once, 29 May; Zeia-pristan, Zeia-pikan, and Zeia-bompak, 18-19 May and 2 June; central Szechwan and Hupeh (Zappey coll.); exact breeding range south unknown; or perhaps breeding along the Stanovoi range? (cf. findings on Zeia). alascensis RJDGW. Examined: 7 specimens, Museum of Comparative Zoology. Upper side nearly as in plexus: back and edges of wing-coverts duller than in thunbergi, gray of the crown ill defined behind, but crown averaging somewhat lighter; loral stripe and ear-coverts darker than the crown but not so dark as in thunbergi and plexus; eyebrow-stripe rather broad, complete; dusky centers border the throat and form a broad ill-defined belt across the chest; the yellow of the under side averaging a little paler than in others (in Alaskan birds, perhaps more prominently so than in East Siberian). Differs well from plexus by broad and complete eyebrow-stripe, strongly developed dusky patterns on the chest, and less dark ear-coverts; from simillima (which it recalls by eyebrow-stripe and but little-dark ear-coverts), differs by duller upper side and dusky markings of the chest. Dimensions rather small and hind claw short: wing 73-77 (80 mm.); tail (63) 66-71; tarsus 23-25; hind toe 9-10; hind claw (7) 8.510.5; bill from the nostril to the tip 9.5-10. RANGE: western Alaska (Nome, St. Michael's) and extreme northeast of Siberia: Emma Harbor (cf, 9 , 14 June, 1913, Dixon leg.), Plover Bay XcT, 9 , 19 June, 1913, Dixon leg.), Providence, cf, 19 June, 1913. simillima HARTERT. Examined: 9 specimens, Petersburg Museum; 6 specimens, Museum of Comparative Zoology. Crown lighter than in thunbergi, well bounded off from the color of the

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r

back; ear-coverts but little darker than the crown, not blackish; narrow, but well-defined white eyebrow from the base of the bill to occiput; back a trifle lighter than in thunbergi; borders of wingcoverts as in thunbergi; dusky spots bordering the throat scattered, not forming a collar. In the eyebrow-stripe, color of the crown, and ear-coverts, similar to zaissanensis G. Poliak., but darker and grayer above, borders of the wing-coverts darker and duller; size larger. Dimensions: hind claw and bill longer than in thunbergi; wing 81-84 mm.; tail 70-72; tarsus 25.2-26.5; hind toe 9.5-10; hind claw 8.2-9.7; from the nostril to the tip of the bill 10-11 (after nine specimens). TERRA TYPICA: Kamchatka, RANGE: Kamchatka; probably also Saghalin (three specimens in the garb of early summer and two young autumn birds, not dated). macronyx STRESEMANN. Examined: 19 specimens, Petersburg Museum. Similar to thunbergi, crown of the same color, eyebrowstripe absent; but ear-coverts less blackish, borders of the wingcoverts light, of a purer color, and broader than in thunbergi (sometimes twice as broad); dusky collar around the throat none; back a trifle brighter. Dimensions not taken. According to Hartert (Vog. d. palaarkt. Fauna, Supplement) it differs from thunbergi by its longer hind claw, which forms the only distinction of this form from thunbergi; in my series I find good characters in the coloration. TERRA TYPICA: Vladivostok. RANGE: Ussuri Land, north probably to Udskoi-ostrog; on migration in eastern Mongolia: Ting-iuen-iing (Wang-j e-f u), Ala-shan province; Philippines, Cochin China, Java. angarensis, subsp. nov. Examined: 8 specimens, Petersburg Museum and Sushkin's collection. One specimen in Museum of Comparative Zoology. Back duller than in thunbergi,dark greenish olive to yellowish olive; crown dark slate gray as in darker specimens of thunbergi, well defined behind; loral stripe and earcoverts slate black; narrow but sharply defined white eyebrow; wing-coverts as in thunbergi; mostly with scattered and feebly translucent spots bordering the throat. Hind claw long. In its upper side similar to plexus from which it differs by the color of the crown sharply set off from the color of the back, betterdefined white eyebrow, and mostly by broader and lighter borders of the wing-coverts. From simillima it differs by darker crown, blackish ear-coverts, and duller upper side. Dimensions: wing

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78-83 mm.; tail 72-74* tarsus 24-26.2; hind toe 9-10.8; hind claw 9.5-10.8; bill from the nostril to^the tip 9-10.8 TYPE: male, 15 June, 1913; village Sharagolskaia, Transbaikalia, Sushkin's collection. RANGE: from Transbaikalia and North Baikal through basins of middle and lower Tunguzka to the sources of Khatanga; village Sharagolskaia on Chikoi River, Transbaikalia; Sosnovka, North Baikal; middle course of middle Tunguzka; Podvolochnaia on the upper course of lower Tunguzka; Lake Yevsei ca. 68째 north latitude and 100째 east longitude. zaissanensis G. POLIAKO\ TI . Examined: specimens in Sushkin's collection and Poliakov's collection. Crown dark bluish gray as in darker specimens of flava; eyebrow-stripe complete from the base of the bill, but narrow; loral stripe and ear-coverts darker than the crown; back olive green as in flava; border of wing-coverts lighter and of a purer yellow than in flava; female and autumn plumage recognizable also by narrow but complete eyebrow and light borders of wing-coverts. Rather small and shorttailed, with comparatively short hind toe and hind claw. From simillima and angarensis differs in brighter and lighter back and borders of wing-coverts. Dimensions: wing 77-80 mm.; tail 66-72.7; tarsus 25; hind toe 8.6; hind claw 9.3; bill from the nostril to the tip 9. TERRA TYPICA: Lake Zaissan. RANGE: valley of Lake Zaissan, along Irtysh River as far as Malo-Krasnoyarskoie where the river enters Altai; on Kara Irtysh as far up as the mouth of Kaldjir River. beema SYKES. Crown neutral gray or a little paler or darker, lighter than in flava and not getting paler on the forehead; broad superciliary stripe; loral stripe, and stripe occupying upper half of ear-coverts neutral gray, not darker than the crown; cheeks and under half of ear-coverts white, mostly divided by a gray line from the throat; chin and sides of the throat broadly white; rarely only, the white on the throat is nearly absent, or the whole throat is white (specimens like that figured in Cat. Birds British Mus., vol. 10, are very scarce); back citrine and warbler green, lighter and brighter than in flava; borders of the wing-coverts light, near to reed yellow. Dimensions: as in zaissanensis, smaller than flava and with shorter tail; wing 75-80 mm.; tail 1

Hartert (Vog. d. palaark. Fauna) quotes erroneously Buturlin as author of this bird.

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65-72; tarsus 23-25; hind toe 8.5-9.6; hind claw 7.2-9.5; bill from the nostril to the tip 8.5-9.8. RANGE: south of middle Siberia (Minussinsk and Krasnoyarsk); probably Uriankh Land; south of West Siberia, and Kirghiz steppe, west as far as the province Ufa and eastern part of the province of the Don Cossacks. leucocephala PRZEVALSKI. Examined: series in the Petersburg Museum (types included), and 18 specimens in Sushkin's collection. Adult male in early summer: crown and sides of the head, chin, and throat almost snow white; ear-coverts sometimes with a faint grayish shadow; occiput pallid neutral gray; behind the orbit, very broad superciliary stripe feebly indicated; back paler than in all others, light yellowish olive; lower back yellowish citrine to pyrite yellow; borders of wing-coverts broad (about 5 mm.), nearly primrose yellow; under side—white throat excepted —lemon yellow to lemon chrome. In five specimens (from a series of 14), the nape is paler and yellower, forming thus an indistinct yellowish semicollar. In five other specimens, the occiput is darker, pale neutral gray, and in three of them the upper half of the ear-coverts is more conspicuously shaded with gray. One specimen, obtained in the same colony, shows a considerable approach to beema. Occiput as in the palest specimens of beema: between light neutral gray and neutral gray; toward the forehead, the coloration gets much paler, to the pallid neutral gray; lores with gray shadow, upper half of ear-coverts pale gray; chin, cheeks, under half of ear-coverts and adjacent part of the sides of the neck white; upper side as in beema, and borders of wing-coverts duller and narrower than in other specimens. Adult female: above, a little lighter than flava, almost not tinged with olive on interscapulium; crown of the head between deep neutral gray and deep mouse gray; eyebrow-stripe very broad; loral stripe and upper half of ear-coverts dirty gray; cheek and lower half of ear-coverts white; throat white, bordered by ill-defined dark spots; rest of the under side mixed creamy white and light yellow; borders of middle wing-coverts about 2 mm., pale grayish, three specimens. (An excellent figure of female of this type is in Aves Przevalskianae, pt 4.) One specimen, probably an old female, approaches the coloration of the male: fore half of the crown grayish white; occiput dirty gray; loral stripe indistinct, cheek and ear-coverts dirty white, the last only

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shaded with gray along the upper border; back mixed with olive green; borders of wing-coverts light, broad (3.5 mm.) and colored with yellowish white; no dark spots around the throat. Dimensions : not markedly different from flava, somewhat larger than in beema-, wing, rf, 77-84 mm., 9 , 76-80; tail, rf1, 67-74, 9 , 69-71; tarsus, cf, 24.5-26, 9 , 24.5-25; hind toe, cf, 9.4-9.7, 9, 9-9.7; hind claw, cf, 7.3-9.8, 9 , 7.6-8.6; bill from the nostril to the tip, cT, 9.2-10.3, 9 , 9.2-10.6. TERRA TYPICA: River Urungu, Chinese Dzungaria, on spring migration; type specimen in Petersburg Museum. RANGE : certainly breeding in northwestern Mongolia: a colony has been found by Sushkin on swampy shores of the Lake Achit-noor, basin of Kobdo, northwestern Mongolia. Surely not found in the basin of Uriug-noor and Ubsa-noor, northwestern Mongolia, which have been carefully explored ornithologically; from the lower part of the Kobdo basin we have no intelligence of yellow wagtails. In Chinese Dzungaria, found on the Lake Uliungur and River Urungu, on spring migration, and at the foot of the range Baity k-bogdo in May of the old style calendar (collected by Przevalski; specimens in Petersburg Museum; unfortunately, Przevalski did not mark the day of the month on his labels), which may indicate its breeding here. Dr. Finsch has seen, but not obtained, light-headed wagtails between the eastern end of ZaissanLake and Altai, on 6 June; judging from the date, the wagtails may have been on passage; the breeding form of this locality is zaissanensis.

Isolated occurrences.—It is remarkable that isolated specimens practically indistinguishable from leucocephala have been found breeding far from the above-indicated regular breeding range.

I have found one specimen in the basin of Turgai River, Kirghiz steppe, about 65° east longitude and 50° north latitude, another one between Emba and Mugodjar range at 48° north latitude (not far from here, on Emba, I obtained one specimen more, on passage), and on Belaia River, about 40 km. north of Ufa—already in European Russia and near to western limit of beema— I have found and obtained even a breeding pair. By their coloration, as well as by dimensions, these specimens are within the range of variation presented by the breeding colony found by me in northwestern Mongolia; one of them may be placed within extreme specimens of leucocephala.

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It is impossible to decide whether these outlying specimens are stragglers of leucocephala, or are to be considered as extreme variants of beema. They have all been found within the range of beema. It is to be noted, however, that within its breeding grounds on the Lake Achit-nor, leucocephala proves to be very constant for this group of birds. subsp. nov? Known by two young birds, collected by Przevalski in Ordos; male No. 12210 (orig. No. 590), and female No. 12209 (orig. No. 509), identified by Pleske (Aves Przevalskianae), as borealis, i. e., thunbergi. Both birds are molting from the nestling plumage into the autumnal. General coloration extraordinarily light; edges of innermost quills very broad and lighter than in any other form; borders of greater wing-coverts also broad and light; lower back, in the autumnal plumage, nearly pure gray. Certainly a new form, as may be inferred also by its far-outlying range, but insufficiently known for characterization. ii. Budytes citreola (Pall.) and allied forms.

The yellow-headed wagtails,—citreola, verae, and citreoloides,—• may be distinguished in all plumages from the gray-headed wagtails (flava and allies), black-headed wagtails (feldeggi), and lutea-gYoup by the external web of the second and third quills being scalloped out at a greater distance from the tip of the wing: on the third quill the narrow part of the outer web extends 18-20 mm. from the wing's tip, to the level between the seventh and eighth quill; in the flava-group and others it extends 15-16 mm. from the wing's tip reaching as far as between fifth and sixth quill, or the tip of the sixth quill. Length of the tarsus, which is often quoted as a distinctive feature of the c^reoZa-group, is of no avail; even in the larger form, citreola, it is unreliable, and in verae the length of the tarsus is often of the minimum dimensions proper to flava. Mainly palaearctic-Asian group which, judging from its passage routes, has only recently spread into the eastern part of European Russia. citreola PALL. Flanks broadly dark in all plumages: gray in the spring birds, olive gray in adult (yellow-bellied) birds in the autumn, neutral gray in the first (white-bellied) autumn plumage, brown in the nestling plumage. Adult bird: upper side pure gray; of the upper tail-coverts, the longest only black;

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in the old male, white tips and edges of the middle and greater wing-coverts form a continuous white wing-patch, dark bases and centers of feathers being concealed. Young bird in the first autumn: mouse gray above, with longest tail-coverts black; middle of breast, belly, and under tail-coverts pure white; chest and fore breast pale drab, flanks broadly neutral gray. Nestling, dark grayish brown above, crown of the head washed with black, and with broad blackish side-borders; upper tail-coverts fuscous; below buffy white, chest tinged with tawny, flanks broadly hair brown. Larger than others but dimensions intergrade. Wing, cf, 80-93, 9 , 77-84 mm.; tail, c?, 75-85, 9 73-77; tarsus, cf, 24.5-27.5, 9, 24.5-26.7; hind claw 9.2-11. RANGE: mainly East Siberia; southward range marked by breeding over the Russian Altai, in northwestern Mongolia partly (Achit-nor Lake,—scarce already,—and Uliassutai), Dauria, and in Amur Land. Certainly does not breed in the valley of Zaissan Lake and Tarbagatai, but a breeding colony exists near Djarkent, upper Hi River (specimens examined); westward range determined by western frontier of the Russian Altai, and by breeding near Tomsk, on the lowest course of Ob River (Beresov) and on the Bay of Ob. verae BUTURLIN. Differs from the foregoing, in all plumages, by complete absence of darkening of the flanks, these being of the same color as the rest of the under side; otherwise colored like the preceding, with gray upper side and black longest tailcoverts. Young in the first autumn: upper side olive brown to hair brown, under side and flanks, buffy white, chest dirty buff.

In the old male, white tips and edges of the middle and greater wing-coverts never form a continuous wing-patch. Smaller than the preceding but the extremes meet; wing, d% 74.5-83, 9 , 73.5-87 mm.;tail, cf,68-75, 9 ,65-72;tarsus, d71,24.5-26, 9 ,23.524.5; hind claw 8.7-11. RANGE: western Siberia, excepting its north (exact limit unknown); east as far as Biisk, then district of Barnaul (village Sarykamysh), and eastern part of Novonikolaievsk district (village Litvinovo); south as far as Semiyarskoie on Irtysh and 480-48|0 across the Kirghiz steppe; eastern part of European Russia as far west in the middle as Riasan Province.

Well-characterized form, surely recognizable in all plumages, the nestling included. The characters are quite constant. Areas of

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both forms meet along the west border of Altai but no mutual approach in characters is observed. Thus, both forms stand in a similar relation as Corvus comix and C. corone and have equal claim for being treated as species. citreoloides GOULD. Old male glossy black on the nape, back and scapulars, lower back, and upper tail-coverts; head and under side of a brighter yellow than in citreola and verae, with an orange tint; flanks like the rest of the under side; large white wingpatch with the tips of feathers tinged with bright yellow. In the younger male (first spring?), nape, sides of the neck, and all upper tail-coverts black, back and scapulars mixed gray and black, white on the wing much less developed. Old female in spring: above tinged with olive (deep grayish olive), all upper tail-coverts black, crown of the head citrine, ear-coverts and cheeks strongly mixed with blackish; yellow of the under side with orange-ochreous tinge, flanks narrowly olivaceous. Young female in spring similar to verae, with only longest tail-coverts black, but upper side and crown tinged with olivaceous, under side buffy yellow, flanks narrowly olive gray. Nestling: upper side paler than in citreola, crown same color as the back, with narrow blackish side-borders; under side buffy white, chest only little darker than the breast, flanks narrowly colored with drab.

Described after a series from upper Syr-Daria, Russian Turkestan. Dimensions between citreola and verae, not characteristic; character, pointed out by Brooks, longer tarsus and hind claw, holds true on average but extremes overlap. Wing, cf, 81-86, 9 , 78 mm.; tail, d71, 72-81, 9 , 72; tarsus, cf, 26-28, 9 , 25: hind claw, 9.7-12.

This is citreoloides sensu stricto. I had no opportunity to examine iranica Zarudny (Ornithologische Monatsberichte, 1910), from eastern Persia; the description is inadequate as some of the reputed characters are surely repeated in Turkestan birds.

The subspecies weigoldi Rensch (Result, d. Walter Stotzner'schen Expedition; Abh. u. Ber. Mus. zu Tier- und Volkerkunde, Dresden, 1923, vol. 16, no. 2) from western Kansu and Szechwan seems to be a valid form, distinct, however, from true citreoloides only by its longer bill. Together, citreoloides s. str., weigoldi, and iranica if valid, form a very compact group distinct from citreola and verae by common characters.

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PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY.

RANGE of this group extends from eastern Persia through Turkestan, Pamir and high central Asia; north limit is marked by breeding at Naryn (upper Syr-Daria), Guchen in Chinese Turkestan, Etzsin-gol in central Mongolia, and Ordos; eastern limit by breeding in Kansu and western Szechwan (Sungpan, Kansego, Rombatsa). Once (citreoloides) as straggler on Emba, Kirghiz steppe, at 48J°. Contrary to many statements (also in Hartert's Vog. d. palaearkt. Fauna) not in Russian Altai. These statements date back to Dr. 0. Finsch's Ornithological letters (Ibis, 1877). Prof. Kastchenko (Results of a zoological expedition to Altai; Bull. University Tomsk, 1899,—Russian) has also identified his specimens from central Russian Altai as citreoloides. In his later paper (Reise nach West-Sibirien; Verhandl. Kaiserl.Konigl. Zool.-bot. Ges., Wien, vol. 29, 1879) Finsch admitted that citreola and citreoloides should be not surely distinguishable.

I had an occasion to examine specimens obtained by Gregor Poliakov, editor of the Russian ornithological journal, and Dr. Velizhanin, on Marka-kul—where Dr. Finsch had taken his specimen—and also specimens collected by Prof. Kastchenko, and all proved to be citreola sensu stricto.

12. Dumeticola thoracica (Blyth).

Specimens examined.—British Museum, 36; Petersburg Museum?

13; Tring Museum, 22.

Geographical distribution.—Generally encircling high central Asia from north, east, and south; extreme south of East Siberia from Amur as far west as right tributaries of Biia (ca. 88° east longitude and 53° north latitude), to the north not even reaching 55° north latitude, breeding at 300-800 meters. Tsingling range (Tai-pai-shan). Eastern Nan-shan, mountains at the upper Hwang-ho, western Kansu, zone of alpine bush; northwestern Yunnan (Lichiang range and Yangtze valley at 2000 meters). Southern Tibet (Popte La) and along Himalaya, at a height of about 3000-3600 meters (Sikkim, Nepal) as far west as Kashmir, where it surely breeds, (specimens from Kashmir and Boronda or Borendo Pass are dated August, whereas the bird has been found on Lake Baikal even as late as 5 September).

Nowhere in Turkestan or Altai proper.

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GEOGRAPHICAL FORMS.

thoracica BLYTH. Examined: 25 specimens, British Museum; 7, Tring Museum. Darkest form, with most obtuse wing, long tail, first primary equalling one-half of the second, and obsolete superciliary stripe. Adult bird above very dark rusty brown, more red and much darker than Prout's brown (Ridgway, 1912).

Superciliary stripe obsolete, cinereous, sometimes only whitish above the frenulum. Sides of head deep mouse gray, with dark olive brown in the upper part of ear-coverts. Sides of throat, and chest, broadly cinereous in most, with coarse blackish triangles. Sides of chest and body of a dark and bright rusty brown (Prout's brown). Subcaudals dark brown, with dirty buffy-whitish tips, not covering the ground color (2 to 5 mm. broad). Under wing-coverts and axillaries dirty brownish whitish, the carpals with large blackish centers, great carpal coverts dark. In autumn more intensely colored. Extent of the gray color of the under side very variable; in specimens with strongly developed gray, the wing lining is also colored with gray, and black spots of the chest are darker. (A series of Yunnan birds is darker and more sooty, but I have seen only autumn birds from this locality, and Himalayan birds have been kept long in the collection.) Feet light brown. Wing 53-56 mm.; quills 9 > 2 > 10 to 2 =10; first quill 16-18.5 mm.; second 31-34.5; wing apex (from the tip of tenth quill to the wing tip) 6-7.5; tail 49-53; difference of first and sixth rectrix 19-24.5. TERRA TYPICA: Nepal. DISTRIBUTION : from Nepal through Sikkim and southern Tibet to northwestern Yunnan (Lichiang range, and Yangtze valley, 2100 m.). przevalskii, subsp. nov. Examined: 5, Petersburg Museum; 4, British Museum; 15, Tring Museum. Lighter, with longer apex of wing and more prominent eyebrow-stripe. Upper side from Prout's brown to raw umber. Sides of the head of a lighter gray. Eyebrow-stripe narrow but prominent, whitish or pale gray above the frenulum and orbit, obscured with cinereous behind the orbit. Sides of the chest and belly of a lighter yellowish brown (Saccardo's umber). Under tail-coverts as in the preceding. Wing-lining paler, dark carpal centers paler and smaller. Under tail-coverts with narrow tips, up to 3 mm.; foot as in preceding. Wing 54.5-57 mm.; quills 2=8 to 2 = 10; first

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quill 15.5-18; second 31-35.5; wing-apex 9-10; tail 47-52; difference of seventh and sixth rectrix 19.2-20 (once 24). TYPE: male, June 1880, Dshachar Mts., upper Hwang-ho, Przevalski leg., Petersburg Museum, No. 77720. DISTRIBUTION: upper Hwang-ho; eastern Nan-shan; western Kansu; Tai-pai-shan.

(Birds from Tai-pai-shan—series of 12 specimens in Tring—are mostly a trifle darker than those from Hwang-ho and Nan-shan.) kashmirensis, subsp. nov. Examined: 5, British Museum.

Similar to the preceding but the eyebrow indistinct, apex of wing somewhat shorter, pale tips of subcaudals broader. Colored as the preceding form; eyebrow strongly obscured with cinereous and more prominent only above the eye, scarcely differing from the frenulum. Light tips of subcaudals broader, 5-5.5 on the longer ones. Wing-lining (whether constantly?) more colored with Isabella. Wing 55-57 mm.; quills 2 = 8 to 9>2>10; first quill 16.5-18; second quill 33.5-35; wing-apex 8-9; tail 49-52; difference of first and sixth rectrix 18-22. TYPE: sex?,"northwestern Himalaya, Capt. Pinwill, leg., British Museum, 72.2.12.

DISTRIBUTION: "Northwestern Himalaya"; Kashmir; Borendo Pass (all specimens British Museum).

Remarkably, this form differs strongly from the nearest one geographically, and is very similar to przevalskii from whose range it is separated by nearly the whole breadth of central Asia. davidi LA TOUCHE (Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 1923, July 20).

Examined: 6, Petersburg Museum and Sushkin's collection.

Differs strongly from thoracica, przevalskii, and kashmirensis by non-rufescent tone of the upper side, distinct light eyebrow, broad light tips of subcaudals in spring, short first primary (less than one-half of second), and shorter tail. Adult in spring and summer: above fulvous brown (between Saccardo's umber and sepia) of same intensity as in przevalskii and kashmirensis, lighter than in thoracica, and of a less rusty tone than in all; eyebrow broad and distinct all along the frenulum and ear coverts, buffy whitish (in old birds sometimes suffused with cinereous above the ear-coverts); sides of the head light brownish gray. Middle of throat, breast and belly more broadly and purely white than in others; brown of the sides of the body less extended and the cinereous of the chest and sides of the throat, being variable, is also generally less extended. Whitish tips of the under tail-

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coverts broad, up to 7 mm., almost concealing the brown groundcolor. Dark centers of the carpal under coverts concealed. Feet pale. (Young in nestling plumage rather light brown, between buffy brown and olive brown above, supercilium distinct; under side strongly colored with cream buff and olive buff on the chest, the last with pallid brownish-gray little spots; under tail-coverts with narrow light tips. Young in autumn very dark—mummy brown and sepia—above, eyebrow distinct, sides of the body olive brown, chest strongly suffused with olive brown, with small indistinct dusky specks; under tail-coverts with narrow light tips.)

Wing 51-53 (55 mm.); quills 2 = 7 to 8 > 2 > 9; wing-tip 9-11.5; first quill 13-15.5; second quill 30-36.5; tail 43-46; difference of first and sixth rectrix 17-21. TERRA TYPICA: Chingwangtao, northeastern Chihli, China, 1 July, 1917. RANGE: southernmost part of eastern Siberia, surely from Transbaikalia as far west as the wooded northeastern and northern foreland of Russian Altai; extreme western point—upper part of the basin of Lebed, tributary of Biia, about 88° east longitude and 53° north latitude; probably the Amur basin (birds from Amur not examined); exact northern range unknown but surely not reaching 58° north latitude on the lower Tunguzka; in North China (Chihli) perhaps on migration only (in seven years' stay in Chingwangtao, Mr. La Touche got only three specimens dated 1 October, 1914, 3 May and 1 June, 1917).

A very distinct form. Young birds (in which the subcaudals have narrow light tips as in other subspecies and in which the general coloration differs from that of the adult bird) are easily recognizable by proportions of the wing. Abbe David (Oiseaux de la Chine, 1877) was the first to draw attention to the peculiarities of North China birds after having compared them with birds from Szechwan. Taczanowski (Faune ornithologique de la Siberia orientale), who had specimens from Nepal (terra typica) for comparison has pointed out exactly the distinctive characters of the Siberian bird but did not separate it. I have compared Siberian birds with specimens from eastern Nan-shan and Szechwan (which proved later to be different again from the typical ones), but did not venture to describe the Siberian bird without direct comparison with topotypes which were not available in Russia. Mr. La Touche emphasizes that his birds from Ching-

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wangtao present exactly the characters described by Abbe David for Peking birds.

I identify the Siberian, birds with those from Chihli with much doubt. They agree in dimensions, wing-formula, and in such a typical feature as comparatively short first primary, also in whiter under parts than in other forms. But Mr. La Touche makes no mention of the color of the upper side which is different in Siberian birds from that of the typical form, and repeats the allusion by Abbe David to a scarcely visible ej^ebrow-stripe, whereas in Siberian birds the eyebrow-stripe is better defined than in any other form.

13.

Locustella certhiola (Pall.).

Specimens examined.—Petersburg Museum, British Museum Tring Museum, Sushkin's collection.

Distribution.—Southern half of Siberia from Pacific to Ob River, Russian Altai, and Kara-Irtysh; south as far as Djarkent, Hami, Zaidam, eastern Nan-shan, upper Hwang-ho, and Manchuria (Kingam Mts.). In Siberia most northern localities are: Naryn on the Ob, Yenissei, 67°, lower Tunguzka ca. 64° (mouth of Ilimpeia). In the south seems to be sporadic; found breeding on Kara-Irtysh and near Za'issansk; near Djarkent (but not in the rest of Russian Turkestan); in the oasis of Hami; in Hangai Mts. at the sources of Etyr and Dzapkhyn but not in the Uriankh country nor in the basin of Kobdo, northwestern Mongolia.

Having had at my disposal good series of this'bird from various parts of its breeding range, I have been able to discriminate four geographical races for three of which, fortunately, old names are available, as established by examination of the types. rubescens BLYTH. Examined: 26, British Museum; 5, Petersburg Museum; 2, Tring Museum; 6, Sushkin's collection. Dark brown and with ill-defined blackish streaks above, with dark sides of the body and under tail-coverts. Adult male in spring and summer: upper side deep orange brown (Prout's brown to Brussels brown), supracaudals and edges of the quills and tailfeathers somewhat brighter, edges of wing-coverts dull, Saccardo's umber; interscapulium and scapulars with rather illdefined shaft-stripes about 2.5 mm. across. Head above, mummy

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brown, with grayish on the occiput, with ill-defined shaft-stripes in its posterior two-thirds. Sides of the head dark, especially in the upper part of ear-coverts; eyebrow-stripe distinct, suffused with cinereous. Sides of the body dark, olive brown; under tail-coverts olive brown or tawny olive, with broad pale tips.

Female with no grayish on the head. Younger birds more sharply striped generally, with narrow streaks on the rump and stripes on the upper tail-coverts; eyebrow-stripe less distinct and washed with brown. In autumn still darker, above, between sepia and Saccardo's umber; young bird striped on the head, nape, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts; sides of the throat, chest, and sides of the body with small indistinct dusky spots.

Wing 59-67 mm. TYPE: No. 81. 51. 1056 British Museum with Blyth's label: "Locustella rubescens mihi, not rare in the vicinity of Calcutta in the cold season. Is it not Turdus [sic] certhiola, Pallas v. Sylvia certhiola, Temm.?'7 DISTRIBUTION: breeding area, Baikal region, north as far as the limit of the species, west across Yenissei north of Yenisseisk (at Krasnoyarsk and near Minussinsk on passage, and breeding birds belong to another form), east in Transbaikalia as far as Argun, where it meets another subspecies, minor} (and probably north of Amur basin as far as Okhotsk?). In winter in Industan, Ceylon, and as far as Andaman Islands and Borneo, but rare in Lower Pegu and South China among prevailing minor. It may be objected that in Pallas's original description Transbaikalia is given as terra typica for this species. But the examination of the type, happily rediscovered by Dr. Stresemann in the Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin, settles the question in the sense that the type specimen which unfortunately bears no indication of locality, belongs to another form. certhiola (PALLAS). Examined: 20, Petersburg Museum and Sushkin's collection; 3, British Museum; 4, Tring Museum.

Lighter and more yellowish (less brown) than preceding one, with more gray on the posterior part of the crown; head, sides lighter, under tail-coverts colored, with pale tips. Back somewhat darker than Saccardo's umber, rump and upper tail-coverts between cinnamon brown and Dresden brown; streaks as in rubescens, ill-defined. Edges of wing-coverts more olive grayish than in preceding. Fore half of the crown between mummy brown and

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Dresden brown, posterior half of the crown mouse gray, dark stripes more prominent. Sides of the head lighter, more olive grayish. Sides of the body of a light buffy brown (more olive than wood brown). Under tail-coverts mostly cinnamon buff, with ill-defined pale tips. (Seasonal and age modifications as in preceding subspecies.) Wing 63-74 mm. Pallas's TYPE, with no locality, preserved in Berlin Museum fur Nat-urkunde.

DISTRIBUTION: breeding area, Lake Kosogol; Minussinsk and Krasnoyarsk district; northeastern and probably central Russian Altai; ? Uriankh country. On migration at Baikal (south end?) and near Djarkent in Turkestan where other forms breed (from this last locality, 4 specimens original Nos. 367, 1650, 1687, 1698, in Lord Rothschild's museum, Zarundy leg.) Winter quarters practically unknown. centralasiae, subsp. nov. Examined: 54, British Museum; 10, Tring Museum; 21, Petersburg Museum and Sushkin's collection. Lighter than both preceding forms, of a rather bright yellowish brown above, and with ill-defined dusky stripes, under tail-coverts pale. Back between Saccardo's umber and Dresden brown, upper tail-coverts Dresden brown, stripes ill defined. Crown paler than in preceding and with more diffuse stripes; sides of the head pale drab. Edges of the wing-coverts drab to grayish olive. Sides of the body light drab or inclining to light grayish olive. Under tail-coverts nearly white, colored only at their concealed bases. Young bird in autumn: Dresden brown above, more profusely spotted as in others, below suffused with chamois, under tail-coverts between ochraceous buff and cinnamon buff, but also showing no sharp contrast of their colored bases and paler tips. Wing 63-72 mm. TYPE: male adult, 1/13 June 1877, River Kara-ussu, sources of Dzapkhyn, Hangai Mts., northwest Mongolia, Beresovski leg;. Petersburg Museum, coll.

Severtzov. DISTRIBUTION: breeding area generally Mongolia, found west as far as south of northeastern Altai and southeastern Russian Altai, eastern part of Zaissan depression, and Djarkent; south along Tian-shan in Chinese Turkestan, Hami, Zaidam, Nan-shan, and upper Hwang-ho; eastern limit not known exactly but in Ala-shan once, among prevalent other forms; in Kingam (or Hingan) Mts., northern Manchuria, an intermediate specir men obtained. In winter Foochow, Lower Pegu, and Andamans. i

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minor DAVID AND OUSTALET. Examined: 54, British Museum; 9, Tring Museum; 7, Petersburg Museum. Heavily and sharply striped with black above, ground-color nearly as in certhiola, under side paler, with pale under tail-coverts, in young birds sharply spotted on the flanks and across the chest. In all ages sharply and broadly striped on the back (breadth of a stripe about 3-4 mm.), scapulars, and the whole crown as far as the front; upper tail-coverts also striped and mostly, but more narrowly, the rump. Ground-color of the upper side brighter than in certhiola, edges of the wing-coverts brighter and more sharply defined. Under side pale; chest and under tail-coverts at their base, of a dirty pinkish buff, the tips of the last pale but not sharply set off. In autumn the flanks and under tail-coverts more colored, but in the last the tips are strongly colored also.

In autumn in most birds, and in most of the young in the nestplumage, the whole chest, sides of the throat, and flanks with large spots 1.5-2 mm. across. Wing (after 7 specimens) 58-69.

I think that the rather ill-chosen name by David and Oustalet is available for this bird as its typical features—strongly developed markings of the upper side and light coloration—are clearly pointed out (cf. Oiseaux de la Chine, p. 250). TERRA TYPICA: somewhere near Peking. DISTRIBUTION: breeding areas: Amur valley, Ussuri, Manchuria, and North China as far as Kiukiang, Yangtze. Westernmost localities: Argun River; plentiful in Kingam Mts., Manchuria; Ala-shan range and Ordos. From the Amur Bay two young birds intermediate -between this form and rubescens. Plentiful in autumn at Chefoo, and majority of the birds wintering in Lower Pegu belong to this form.

14. Locustella naevia Bodd.

Distribution.—Eastern limit of breeding area in Asia marked by occurrence in the south of middle Siberia (Minussinsk); Uriankh Land; north and west parts of northwestern Mongolia (Tess River and Lake Achit-nor, of the Kobdo basin); lower KaraIrtysh; Russian Turkestan and Kuldja (suspected to breed in western Himalaya). Northern limit in Asia marked by occurrence at Verkhoturie, Barnaul, and Minussinsk. Does not reach Baikal and Kossogol or penetrate farther east into Mongolia, belonging thus to the west-palaearctic elements of Asiatic fauna*

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naevia BODD. Above darkest, in spring olive brown or a trifle lighter with rather ill-defined black centers; chest and flanks brown-grayish and the rest of the under side washed with brown. Larger than others: wing 59-66 mm. Europe generally save the east of European Russia; Caucasus (partly?). straminea SEVERTZ. In spring lighter above (buffy brown or inclining to a more olive-grayish tint), with more prominent dark centers; chest and flanks lighter; throat more whitish. Smaller: wing 53-60 mm. East of European Russia (gouvernement Ufa and Orenburg), Kirghiz steppe, Transcaspia, Turkestan. mongolica, subsp. nov. In spring as light above and prominently spotted as siraminea but of a more grayish tone (between drab and grayish olive); below much paler than others, with more feebly colored flanks and chest, the last very pale in the middle, and more often unspotted than in others. (Young bird in the autumn, of a more grayish brown and rather dark—something between buffy brown and olive brown but grayer, recognizable by comparatively pale flanks and chest.) Size as in straminea: wing 55-62 mm. SPECIMENS EXAMINED: 7, Petersburg Museum; 3, British Museum; 11, Sushkin's collection. TYPE: male, 30/17 May, 1904. Temir-su River, near Za'issansk. Sushkin leg., Sushkin's collection. DISTRIBUTION: Zaissan depression, northwestern Mongolia, Uriankh Land, and Minussinsk. In spring found in northwest provinces of India (surely here belong British Museum's Nos. 1908. 11. 10. 118 and 119, 2 April 1908, and 10 May 1908, Kohat, N. W. F., and doubtfully No. 82.1.20.829, 3 April, 1869, Etawah).

15. Prunella fulvescens (Severtz.).

Specimens examined: Petersburg Museum; British Museum; Tring Museum; Sushkin's collection.

Geographical distribution1.—Mountains of Turkestan, Tarbagatai; High Central Asia; southern limit marked by localities: Gilgit; Ladak; north side of Mt. Everest; Sikkim; southeastern Tibet; eastern limit: western Kansu and Ala-shan range; Argun 1

Not including Prunella ocularis (Radde) which I prefer to consider as a separate species.

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River; northern limit: Argun River; probably eastern Sayan (in winter near Irkutsk); ranges around Lake Kosogol and eastern part of Tannoo-ola; basin of Kobdo and southeast of Russian Altai (sources of Chuia River). Not in the rest of Russian Altai or Sayan. HABITAT: stony slopes and low cliffs amidst the open country, often in the subalpine or alpine zone, sometimes amidst a desert landscape; avoids bush and wooded country; vertical range in Altai and Mongolia 1400-2400 meters, in Himalaya nearly up to 5000 meters. Seasonal migration mostly restricted to the vertical ones. Being connected by its habitat with mountain ranges, is discontinuously distributed, which favors development of local forms.

GEOGRAPHICAL FORMS.

fulvescens SEVERTZ.—Adult male in autumn: above of a reddish-gray color, between drab and hair brown or a little more reddish; back and scapulars with diluted brown centers; nape without markings; rump and supracaudals drab, not marked.

Crown of a dull and dark reddish brown (near to benzo brown), darker on the sides; supercilium creamy white; earcoverts fuscous black. Quills and greater and middle wingcoverts of a dull grayish brown (between hair brown and chsetura drab), edged with dull buffy brown; lesser wing-coverts mousegray. Sides of the neck feebly suffused with cinereous. Below of a light cinnamon buff (between pinkish cinnamon and cinnamon buff); center of the throat, of the belly, and under tail-coverts paler—pale pinkish buff—presenting no strong contrast with the chest and sides of the body. Under tail-coverts with large, scarcely concealed dark centers; sides of the belly with diffuse dark streaks about 1 mm. across. Under side of carpus with dark, not quite concealed centers of feathers. Female grayer and paler, crown of an uneven color, individual feathers being darker along the shafts producing an obscurely striped appearance. DISTRIBUTION: whole of the Russian Turkestan as far northeast as ranges around Issyk-kul, but the mountains bordering Zerafshan valley excluded (what form inhabits the Dzungarian Ala-tau is unknown); Pamir; Kashmir (many specimens in British Museum from Gilgit, and Astor south of Gilgit); Ladak, Khardong (the only specimen—British Museum—strongly

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abraded but, surely, not referable either to the pale dresseri, or to the sharply striped Tibetan bird). Gilgit specimens are perhaps of a more "neutral" or grayish tone but scarcely separable. juldussica, subsp, nov. Examined: 7, Petersburg Museum; 1, British Museum; 7, Sushkin's collection. A little darker and of a "colder," more neutral gray tint above, under side not different from fulvescens. Somewhat darker, especially the wings, tail, and markings. Upper side nearly between hair brown and deep grayish olive; brown streaks of the mantle darker, of a more neutral (less reddish) tint and more prominent than in fulvescens.

Crown of the head of a cold deep dark brown (between hair brown and chaetura drab). Sides of the neck strongly mixed with cinereous, which is also perceptible on the nape. Dark parts of wing and tail more dusky; wing-coverts and quills edged with a more yellowish (hair brown to buffy brown). Under side of the body and under wing-coverts not different from fulvescens. Female, as always, more grayish and lighter, and differs less markedly. TYPE: male, 5 January, 1916, defile of Naryn, Tian-shan, Dacenko leg., Sushkin's collection. DISTRIBUTION: Tian-shan east of the Russian frontier; west as far as Sary-djaz, where meets with fulvescens. In winter (together with some other forms of eastern Turkestan like Cannabinaflavirostris montanella and a subspecies of Emberiza godlewskii) migrates as far west as Przevalsk and Naryn, where the breeding form is fulvescens. karlykensis, subsp. nov. Examined: 7, Petersburg Museum, (various points of Karlyk-tag near Hami); 2, British Museum ("E. Hami Mts."). Somewhat paler and of a more grayish olive than fulvescens. Upper side paler, more grayish olive, dark centers of a more neutral tone and more prominent; edges of wingcoverts and quills lighter and more yellow (between isabella color and tawny olive); smaller coverts drab; crown of the head paler than in fulvescens. Sides of the neck in the male with cinereous. From juldussica differs by being paler and more yellowish, less gray, crown of the head paler and more reddish.

TYPE: male, 30 January, 1890, Ortun-tam, south slope of Karlyktag (near Hami), Grum-Grzimailo leg., original No. 482, Petersburg Museum. DISTRIBUTION: southern slopes of Karlyk-tag (eastern end of Tian-shan system, north and east of Hami). dresseri HART., nom. nov. (pallidus DRESS, nom. preocc.)

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Examined: 8, Petersburg Museum; 8, British Museum. Very pale all over, buffy above, with very obsolete streaks and pale ear-coverts. Palest of all; above of a pale buffy brown; interscapulium and scapulars with very diffuse and dull streaks (between hair brown and fuscous); dark parts of wing and tail paler than in fulvescens; edges of the quills and wing-coverts broader and lighter than in others, tawny olive; lesser coverts buffy brown.

Sides of the neck lighter but nearly without gray, crown of the head pale, behind nearly confluent with the color of the nape, of a tone between benzo brown and hair brown but paler. Supercilium strongly washed with creamy. Ear-stripe paler than fuscous. Below pale, chest and sides of the body pinkish buff, throat, and most part of belly pale pinkish buff; sides with fine and pale, scarcely perceptible streaks; dark centers of subcaudals quite concealed. Dark centers of the under side of carpus more covered than in others. DISTRIBUTION: ranges of the southern border of Lob-nor depression and northern border of Tibet, from the mountains southwest of Yarkand and east as far as Columbus Range and spring Blagodatnyi in Nan-shan, where this form meets with nanshanica, subsp. nov. One specimen, male, taken 18 October, 1880, Gilgit, where fulvescens prevails, is intermediate to the last but nearer to dresseri. nanshanica, subsp. nov. Examined: 15, Petersburg Museum; 3, British Museum. Nearly as pale as dresseri but more grayish, upper side with prominent dusky stripes, perceptible also on the nape. Upper side of a light grayish olive (between light drab and light grayish olive); dark stripes fuscous, prominent, and perceptible also on the nape (difference from the preceding forms).

Longest upper tail-coverts with a broad longitudinal shadow.

Wing and tail darker than in dresseri; edges of the quills and wing-coverts rather dull, buffy brown. Sides of the neck with cinereous. Crown of the head of an uneven hair brown, with dusky shadows along the shafts. Ear-stripe darker, fuscous; supercilium white (not creamy). Under side as in dresseri.

Under side of carpus with more prominent dark centers. TYPE: male, 17 October, 1908, Kwei-Te-ting (or Gui-dui), Kozlov leg., orig. No. 41, Petersburg Museum. DISTRIBUTION: Nan-shan system east of the spring Blagodatnyi, with southern Kuku-nor range; in eastern direction as far as Hsi-ning.

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mongolica, subsp. nov. Examined: 24, Petersburg Museum; 2, British Museum. Darker and more buffy above than fulvescens, under side of a deeper and more pinkish tint, center of throat and belly in stronger contrast with surrounding parts. Above buffy brown, darker, and less grayish and reddish than fulvescens, with more prominent dusky markings on the interscapulium and scapulars and none on the nape. Edges of the quills and wingcoverts rather bright, buffy brown. Lesser wing-coverts with cinereous. Crown of the head dark, between clove brown and olive brown. Nape with gray, sides of the neck strongly colored with cinereous. Chest and sides of the body deeply colored, between clay color and cinnamon, sides of the throat deeply colored, center of the throat and of the belly whiter and in.a stronger contrast with surrounding parts than in fulvescens. Sides of the body with dark streaks 2-2.5 mm. across. Under tail-coverts with large, non-concealed dark centers, mostly whitish. Large dark centers on the under side of carpus. TYPE: male, 20 December, 1876, near Kobdo town, northwestern Mongolia, Potanin leg.j orig. No. 143, Petersburg Museum. DISTRIBUTION: all along the Mongolian Altai, from the sources of Kobdo (Suok River) and granite hills of Achit-nor depression; Hangai Mts. at the sources of Dzapkhyn and Selenga; Ala-shan range. In winter near Sogo-nor, central Gobi. Birds from Kentei Mts. not examined.

Birds from Ala-shan range are known to me from four specimens only (3, Petersburg Museum; 1, British Museum) of which only three in fresh plumage; they seem to be a trifle grayer, and with more prominent streaks, than in the average of mongolica, but I prefer not to separate them. dahurica TACZ. Examined: 11, Petersburg Museum; 1, British Museum; Tring Museum; 31, Sushkin's collection. Dark sooty brown above, with deeply colored under side, whitish center of the throat and of the belly, and colored under tailcoverts. Darker than all preceding ones; upper side hair brown; wing as in fulvescens with dull buffy-brown edges, but with grayer lesser-coverts. Sides of the neck cinereous. Crown of the head darkest fuscous. Below cinnamon and pinkish cinnamon, with colored under tail-coverts and whitish center of the throat and of the belly. Sides of the body strongly striped, centers of the under

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carpal coverts and under tail-coverts large and not covered up, as in mongolica. DISTRIBUTION: Tarbagatai; southeastern Russian Altai; Tannu-ola, Kosogol and ? eastern Sayan (in winter near Irkutsk); Argun (after literature; specimens not seen); in winter near Kopal. hissarica, subsp. nov. Examined: 5, Petersburg Museum.

Dark above, with very obsolete streaks, and underside as in fulvescens. Above dark hair brown, similar to dahurica, but with more narrow and more obsolete streaks producing a more unicolorous effect; wings dull. Crown of the head of a more reddish tone. Under side, with sides of the body and under tail-coverts, as in fulvescens. TYPE: male, 3 August, 1892, Zerafshan, Lake Dschai, Gusun-pass, Glasunov leg., Petersburg Museum.

DISTRIBUTION: mountains bordering the basin of Zerafshan.

(Localities: Djai-pass; Lake Iskander-kul; Yagnob; Matcha.) tibetana, subsp. nov. Examined: 13, British Museum.

Above of a vivid buffy brown, interscapulium and scapulars sharply streaked with black, nape striped; below colored nearly as mongolica. Above snuff brown inclining to buffy brown or, on the interscapulium, to Verona brown, interscapulium and scapulars with deeply colored, very prominent dusky streaks 2.75 to 3 mm. across; nape striped with dusky. Rump and upper tail-coverts without markings, or, rarely, the longest coverts with a diffuse dusky streak. Edges of the wing-coverts and quills more vivid and prominent than in fulvescens, between snuff brown and sayal brown. Sides of the neck with cinereous, and striped with dusky. Crown of the head of a more neutral color than in fulvescens, and uniformly colored only in its foremost onethird, the rest showing dark longitudinal shadows. Ear-stripe somewhat paler than in fulvescens. Under side nearly as in mongolica, cinnamon inclining to clay color but rather lighter, center of the throat and of the belly more colored than in mongolica and less contrasting with the sides and chest, sides of the body unstreaked or with feeble streaks as in fulvescens; under tail-coverts strongly tinged with cinnamon, with large unconcealed dusky centers. Female, as usual, paler and grayer above but also more colored than others, and very prominently striped.

In strongly worn plumage more vividly colored above and below than fulvescens} with very distinct dusky stripes above,

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and unevenly colored crown. British Museum, 13 specimens (Mt. Everest base camp 16,500', Khambajong, Gyangtze, Nyenyam, southern Tibet). TYPE: male, 9 October, 1903, Khambajong, Tibet, Capt. H. J. Walton leg., British Museum, No. 1905.12. 31. 231. DISTRIBUTION: south of Tibet, east of Mt. Everest.

Two birds more in the British Museum labelled: Tibet, Nov. '75, Mandelli, Hume coll., and interior of Sikkim, Hume coll. (also, by the shape of the skin, from Mandelli), differ rather markedly: upper side paler and more yellow, between buffy brown and sayal brown, and more narrowly striped with dusky; below as the palest specimens of tibetana; in one specimen, marked 9 —probably erroneously—the crown of the head is uniformly colored, and in both of a more reddish hue, as in fulvescens; one of the Khambajong specimens is intermediate. These specimens may indicate, in my opinion, the existence of a separate form, whose range meets that of tibetana in the locality adjacent to Mt. Everest. It must be taken into consideration, that no specimens of Prun. fulvescens are known from an enormous space, about 1000 km., between Ladak and Mt. Everest, and from between the ranges of dresseri and tibetana as they are indicated in this note. khamensis, subsp. nov. Examined: 6, Petersburg Museum.

Striped above like tibetana, but darker, tail-coverts with longitudinal diluted streaks, under side deeply colored, sides of the body rather sharply streaked. Nearly as dark above as dahurica but more vividly colored and with very prominent dusky streaks.

Interscapulium and scapulars of a dark and reddish drab, heavily striped; supracaudals inclining to dark buffy brown, with diffuse dusky streaks which in many specimens extend also upon the lower back; nape with cinereous, markedly striped, sides of the neck cinereous. Edges of wing-coverts and quills between Verona brown and snuff brown; lesser wing-coverts dark mousegray. Crown of the head dark reddish brown (between fuscous and benzo brown), mostly with longitudinal shades. Under side as in dahurica but with the center of the throat and of the belly more tinged. Sides of the body with sharp and dark streaks.

TYPE : male, November, 1900, Re-chii River, Kham, northeastern Tibet, Kozlov leg. DISTRIBUTION: northeastern Tibet, upper

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courses of Mekong and Yangtze-kiang under 95째-98째 east longitude. subsp.? Western Kansu is inhabited also by a form strongly streaked above which cannot be referred, however, to the geographically nearest khamensis, there being no streaks on the upper tail-coverts or sides of the body; the only specimen (British Museum, female, 7 April, 1910, Old Tau Chou, Kansu, Earl of Bedford's expedition) is too badly preserved for a comparison.

In this complex of ten well-marked geographical forms, the following groups and relations may be ascertained: (1) strongly striped forms of southeastern High Asia (tibetana, khamensis, nanshanicd) and (2) more scantily and diffusely striped forms; the last are subdivided into a more deeply colored northern group (mongolica, dahurica) inhabiting Altai, Hangai, Sayan, and Tarbagatai, and the fulvescens-group (fulvescens,juldussica, karlyken-sis, dresseri, and hissarica) inhabiting Turkestan (Russian and Chinese) and western Himalaya. It is remarkable that most pallid forms have been evolved independently from two sources, the one, dresseri, being a derivative of the fulvescens-gvoup and the other, nanshanica, a derivative of the tibetana-group.