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66 THE CONDOR VoL. XII Of the same size and shape as ordinary phoeniceus, with the same scarlet carpus, it only differs, in extreme cases, in not having this red bordered with tawny. This is produced by the restriction of the brownish yellow of the middle wing coverts (in phqeniceus occupying the whole length of these feathers) to the basal portion of the feathers, their projecting ends being black, and so.failing to produce a tawny bordering to the red. But every imaginable stage is a matter of observation in different specimens, from one extreme to the other, * * *" In all this confusion of ideas and descriptions there seems to be a missing link, which, when discovered, should smooth out the discrepancies and show us the real status of this species, or at least help us to approach it. It has recently been my good fortune to come across a large breeding colony of Agelaius in central California--Stanislaus County--and to be able to take specimens from time to time from March to November. It happens that except for the habitat of ?1. gr. californicus being given as extending into the San Joaquin Valley the whole interior valley land of California--a vast area--is "sidestepped", as it were, in giving the habitat of Agrelaius. This omission is due without doubt to a paucity of specimens from this region. The series of specimens we have obtained from Stanislaus County were taken not far from the real head of San Francisco Bay (Central Coast region) which is the dwelling place of typical A. gr. californicus. But these specimens incline mostly to the south-of-Tehachapi form, which is described as A. p?oeniceus?neutralis. Yet, While they conform in this way to the southern race--in size, color, habits, etc., with the exception of a thicker bill than any loren given--the males have a decided and in most cases quite extensive black tipping to some or often even to all the feathers of the middle wing coverts during the breeding season, before the tips are badly abraded, and the females, as a rule, have the heavy streaking of the southern bird. Yet both male and female individuals have been taken there which are absolutely indistinguish- able from breeding specimens of A. gr..californicus fro m the San Francisco Bay region and others which are also indistinguishable except for a slightly thicker bill. There is no reason why two species may not use a common breeding ground, it is true, but when one can obtain from the same flock individuals that are almost ty- pical of eitherspecies, and others that vary thru all intermediate grades of coloration, streakings, black or but little black on the middle wing coverts, and all dependable measurements thereof overlapping in both directions, it looks as if the missing link has been found--that grubernator is directly connected with p?oeniceus and that A. grubernalor californicus is rightly A. pI?oeniceus cahybrnicus. Foilowing are some tables of measurements of California birds: Col. J.&J.W.M. Col. J.&J.W.M. Col. J.&J.W.M. CoI.J.&J.W.M. Mus. of Vert 7032. 7014. 2472. 6968. Zool. U. of C. U.S. Nat. Mm 693. South Carolin Stanislaus Co. Stanislaus Co., Marin Co., Cal. Stanislaus Co. Riverside Co., Feb. 24. Cal. Apr. 24. Cal. Apr. 1. June 6. Cal. Mar. 11. Cal. Mar. 31. Wing 104.2 104.0 109.0 108.5 105.1 100. 9 Tail 77.6 76.8 78.1 82.2 80.0 76. 2 Culmen 19.5 19.6 19.0 19.6 19.8 21.2 Depth of bill 11.1 11.5 9.5 10.9 10.1 11.0 Width of bill at base 9.1 8.6 8.2 8.3 8.2 9.8 Width of bill at middle of culmen 4.0 4.0 3.9 4.0 4.1 3.9 In the photograph of six females the specimens are arranged to show the grad- ation of the streaking on the under parts. Note that the two with least streaking