Studies of Birds Killed in Nocturnal Migration — John Shaqi
Studies of Birds Killed in Nocturnal MigrationTordoff, Harrison Bruce
Science
Studies of Birds Killed in Nocturnal Migration
Tordoff, Harrison Bruce
Birds -- Migration
_Passerella iliaca iliaca._ Fox Sparrow.--Weight: 1 adult
female, 29.4, little fat. A trifle grayer above than any of
several Kentucky specimens, this bird nevertheless seems
well within the range of variation of _iliaca_.
_Melospiza l. lincolnii._ Lincoln Sparrow.--Weights and
measurements are discussed elsewhere. Of 81 specimens, 15
were very fat, 47 were fat, 12 were moderately fat, and 7
had little fat. Interestingly, there is no evidence that the
large southern montane subspecies (_M. l. alticola_) has
contributed to the present sample. No bimodality is evident
in the curve of wing-length in our birds, the largest of
which barely approach, the small extreme recorded for
_alticola_ by Miller and McCabe (1935:156).
_Melospiza georgiana ericrypta._ Swamp Sparrow.--Weights: 3
immature females, 14.3, little fat, 16.7, 17.0, moderately
fat. Swamp Sparrows examined were all more or less brightly
colored and seem to belong to this northern subspecies.
_Melospiza melodia juddi._ Song Sparrow.--Weights: 1 adult
female, 19.4, little fat; 1 unsexed immature, 16.0, little
fat. A large proportion of the migrant and wintering Song
Sparrows in eastern Kansas probably originate from the range
of this subspecies in the northern plains. _Melospiza
melodia euphonia._--One immature female (not weighed) was
picked up below the tower on October 27, 1954, and thus does
not appear in Table 1. The specimen proved typical of this
generally more eastern subspecies upon comparison with a
large series from Kentucky. For what it may be worth we
refer the single specimen to this subspecies. Long
(1940:456) reported two eastern subspecies from Kansas
("_beata_," _melodia_). All Kansas specimens genuinely of
eastern origin probably originate from the range of
_euphonia_, as now understood.
Randomness of the Sample
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