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The Ashy Kinglet

Authors
Joseph Grinnell
Journal
Condor
Volume
6
Issue
1 (January-February)
Year
1904
Pages
25
Section
From Field and Study
Online Text

The Ashy Kinglet

BY JOSEPH GRINNELL

Regulus calendula cineraceus new subspecies.

CHARACTERS--Similar to Regulus calendula calendula but larger; coloration throughout paler and grayer, less yellowish.

TYPE-- ♀ ad.; No. 1039, Coll. J. G.; Strain’s Camp, Mt. Wilson, Los Angeles County, California; May 9, 1896; collected by J. Grinnell.

MEASUREMENTS OF TYPE (in inches)--Length 4.62: extent 7.25; wing 2.40; tail 1.96, tarsus .75; culmen .35; bill from nostril .26.

COI.ORATION OF TYPE--Above pale ashy olive, becoming slightly greenish on rump; wings and tail sepia, edged with whitish; crown-patch flame-scarlet; beneath ashy-white faintly tinged with olive-buff, the latter being most evident posteriorly.

REMARKS--The two breeding birds in my collection, from the high mountains of Los Angeles county, are matched by a considerable number of winter specimens from various parts of southern California. These appear to indicate an arid mountain race of the Southwest, characterized by large size and gray coloration. Parallel geographic variants are exhibited in such genera as Hylocichla, Passerella and Empidonax.

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