1926] Swarth: Birds and Mammals from the Atlin Region 75

I learned that the man who collected the type series of flemingi (a
trapper, who sold specimens to the Canadian Geological Survey) had
had his headquarters at Nisuttlin Bay, on the east side of the lake,
and, from what I was told, in all probability his birds were shot on a
low mountain that rises some four or five miles north of that point.
Fleming? is unquestionably closely related to richardsonw and much
farther removed, genetically, from the coastal forms of Dendragapus
whose ranges it approaches so nearly on the westward. In the descrip-

Fig. B. Tails of Dendragapus obscurus flemingi, showing variation due to
sex and age; about % natural size. a, adult male, in second year or older
(M. V. Z. no. 46091) ; b, immature male, during first year (M. V. Z. no. 46092) ;
c, adult female (M. V. Z. no, 42001); d, immature female (M. V. Z. no. 46093).

tion of flemingi, Taverner (loc. cit.) properly makes most of his com-
parisons with richardsonii, as its closest relative, but he lays undue
stress upon certain features that are of no systematic import. In the
description of the tail he says: ‘‘Tail feathers not having the same
chopped off appearance. Middle and several lateral feathers slightly
to markedly double-rounded at end.’’ This is a matter of age (see
figs. B and C); the shape of the tail is the same in both subspecies.