Studies of Birds Killed in Nocturnal MigrationTordoff, Harrison Bruce
Science
Studies of Birds Killed in Nocturnal Migration
Tordoff, Harrison Bruce
Birds -- Migration
_Passerculus sandwichensis nevadensis._ Savannah
Sparrow.--Weights: 1 adult male, 19.4, fat; 2 immature
males, 18.3, 19.0, moderately fat; 5 adult females, mean
17.2 (14.8-19.5), little fat to fat; 4 immature females,
mean 18.0 (16.9-19.6), moderately fat to fat. Many of the
Savannah Sparrows migrating through Kansas have in the past
been referred to the subspecies _P. s. anthinus_ (=
_alaudinus_ of the 1931 A. O. U. Check-List) by various
workers (see Long, 1940:454). As Peters and Griscom
(1938:464-5) have shown, true _anthinus_, breeding in the
far northwest, ordinarily occurs in migration only in the
western part of the country, the breeding Savannah Sparrows
of a large part of the central continental region (east to
southern Wisconsin) being _P. s. nevadensis_ as now
understood. Migrants of this pale, clay-colored subspecies
should be abundant in Kansas, and all of the specimens in
the present sample are referable to it.
_Ammodramus savannarum perpallidus._ Grasshopper
Sparrow.--Weights: 3 adult males, 16.4, 17.6, 20.6,
moderately fat, fat, fat; 5 immature males, mean 18.1
(16.0-20.2), little fat to fat; 5 adult females, mean 17.9
(16.8-18.9), moderately fat to very fat; 5 immature females,
mean 18.1 (16.8-20.6), fat to very fat.
_Passerherbulus caudacutus._ Leconte Sparrow.--Weights: 1
immature male, 11.2, moderately fat; 1 immature female,
12.2, moderately fat.
_Ammospiza caudacuta nelsoni._ Sharp-tailed
Sparrow.--Weights: 2 adult males, 15.2, 17.1, moderately fat
and very fat; 1 adult female, 13.3, little fat. Five
specimens of this species have been taken previously in
Kansas, all in October in the eastern part of the state.
Additionally, several observers have reported birds seen but
not collected. The three birds from Topeka were picked up on
October 6, 7, and 10 and are the only specimens taken since
1907. Possibly our specimens from Topeka struck the tower on
the same night. Tordoff noticed, upon preparation, that the
specimens from October 7 and 10 showed progressive drying of
the extremities and spoilage as compared with the bird
picked up on October 6.
_Junco hyemalis cismontanus._ Slate-colored Junco.--Weight:
1 immature female, 16.4, little fat. Juncos of hybrid type,
whether _J. h. hyemalis_ × _J. oreganus_ subsp. or true _J.
h. cismontanus_, are fairly common in eastern Kansas.
_Spizella pallida._ Clay-colored Sparrow.--Weights: 2 adult
males, 11.6, 12.2, both fat; 1 immature male, 11.8, fat; 1
adult female, 12.5, fat; 7 immature females, mean 11.1
(9.7-12.5), little fat to fat.
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