14 THE CONDOR Vol. XVI The wing and tail measurements of aciculatus indicate greater length than any other United States form, but the plumage was so badly worn and abraded at the late date at which the speciinens were collected last of May and first of June--that they are not of sufficiently definite value in the determination of comparative size. The greater size of aciculatus seems to be more a matter of length of actual body than of comparative length of bill and tail. As far as coloration and markings are concerned this form seems to be between neutralis and nevadensis, both racially and geographically, and ap- pears to have been developed by some unknown factor in the small area it must occupy among the foothills of the southern Sierra. Specimens of Agelaius taken at Buena Vista Lake, thirty or forty miles west of this area, and across the plains, are indistinguishable from the general run of neutralis, while the form on the east is sonoriensis, and that on the northeast is Grinnell's new form, nevadensis. The average and the maximum measurements of the culmen (from base) and of the middle toe (without claw) of both male and female aciculatus are greater than any similar measurements given by Mr. Ridgway in his Birds of North and Middle America for any subspecific form of Agelaius, as well as FIO. 9. a. Agelaius p. neutralis, ? ad., no. 7508, coil. J. & J. W. Mailliard; culmen from base 23.2 min., depth of bill 13.6, width of bill 10.0. b. Agelaius p. nevadensis, ? ad., no. 8806, Mus. vert. Zool.; culmen from base 23.6, depth of bill 11.7, width of bill 9.7. c. Agelaius p. aciculatus, type, ? ad., no. 7593, coil. J. & J. W. Mailliard; culmen from base 27.6, depth of bill 12.7, width of bill 9.6. d. Agelaius p. neutralis, 9 ad., no. 7520, coil J. & J. W. Mailliard; culmen from base 20.4, depth of bill 10.1, width of bill 8.0. e. Agelaius p. nevadensis, 9 ad., no. 8807, Mus. Vert. Zool.; culmen from base 20.6, depth of bill 8.9, width of bill 7.5. f. Agelaius p. aciculatus, cotype, 9 ad., no. 7594, coil J. & J. W. Mailliard; culmen from base 23.1, depth of bill 10.3, width of bill 8.3. Note: The individuals were selected for the above drawings as being neaxest to the average measurements of the forms designated.
