170 THE CONDOR Vol. XV Thus, taking the Pacific Coast representatives of the spotted towhee, we may consider oregonus, megalonyx and curtatu,? as occupying respectively the three points of a V, with megalonyx at the p6int of junction. There is unbroken con- nection between oregonus and megalonyx through falcifer, and between curtatus and megalonyx through falcinellus; but as far as the available material shows there is no connection between oregonus and curtatus. The bird of the islands (P.m. clementae) has the large feet and claws, even more greatly developed than megalonyx, but in coloration it is distinctly of the gray-rumped i!aland type. No specimens of the Lower California P.m. magnirostris have been avail able for comparison, but from the published descriptions it appears that one oi the distinctive features of the subspecies is again large feet and claws. From all this it would seem that the southwestern subspecies of Pipilo macu- latus are distinguished from others of the species by the excessive development of feet and claws; while the northwestern (humid coast) and 'eastern (Rocky Mountain) forms are alike in having these members comparatively small and weak. The northwestern bird, in COllllT1On with a majority of the animals of the same region, has assumed an intensely dark coloration. The Rocky Mountain orms (applying this term to curtatus as well as to arcticu,? and montanus) are all decidedly grayish in color. In its comparatively dark hue megalonyx is probably to be regarded as a modi- fication of the black oregonus, with which it is unbrokenly connected, but this view does not explain the coloration of the neighboring race clementae. By char- acters of the proportional size of the bill and feet megalonyx and clementae are closely connected, but the island bird is abruptly grayish colored, of the general style of the Rocky Mountain forms. l?ipilo maeulatus megalonyx Baird. SPURRED TowI?EE. Type Locality.--Fort Tejon, Kern County, California. Range.--Pacific slope of southern California; north along the coast to San Luis Obispo County; in 'the interior, to the southern Sierra Nevada (northern Kern County). Also. on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa islands. Specimens examined from the following localities. San Diego County: Dul- zura; Julian; Foster. Orange County: Trabuco Canyon; Santa Ana Canyon. Riverside County: San Jacinto Mountains; Santa Rosa Mountains. San Ber- nardino County: San Bernardino Mountains. Los Angeles County: Pasadena; E1 Monte; Glendora; Cerritos; Santa Monica Mountains. Ventura County: Ven- tura; Nordhoff; Mount Pinos; head of Piru Creek. Kern County: Mount Breck- inridge; Kern River, I2 miles below Bodfish; Greenhorn Mountains; west slope of Walker Pass; Fay Creek, 6 miles north of Weldon; Kiavah Mountain; Onyx. Santa Barbara County: Santa Cruz Island. San Luis Obispo County: Santa Margarita; Paso Robles. Total number of specimens, ?66. Distin?uishin? Characters.--Coloration very dark, and white markings re- stricted. Adult male (and sometimes the immature male as well) with the entire back uniformly deep black (except for the usual white markings), the rump being deep black :instead of more or less grayish or olivaceous. Hind claw longer than in any other California race of Pipilo maculatus. Remarks.---Pipilo m. megalonyx as here defined is almost the equivalent of Ridgway's (?899 , p. 254 ) IP. m. atratus. There is, as pointed out by that author, a race on the Pacific slope of southern California, characterized principally by exceedingly dark coloration; but the range of this subspecies includes the type locality of Pipilo megalonyx Baird, Fort Tejon, and extends some distance north
