Junco hyemalis subsp. cismontanus Dwight 1918

Junco hyemalis cismontanus Dwight

Junco hyemalis cismontanus Dwight, 1918: 295 (east of the Rocky Mountains).

Now Junco hyemalis cismontanus Dwight, 1918. See Miller 1941: 402–404, Phillips, 1962: 372– 376, Paynter, 1970: 64, Byers et al., 1995: 246– 249, Nolan et al., 2002, and Dickinson, 2003: 783.

LECTOTYPE: AMNH 402559, adult male, collected at Sumas, Washington, USA (5 British Columbia, Canada, as on label), on 13 February 1905, by Allan Brooks. From the Dwight Collection (no. 12281).

COMMENTS: In his original description, no type was designated, because Dwight considered his cismontanus to be of hybrid origin, but he indicated that if his cismontanus could be restricted to a definite geographical area, it might be considered a subspecies. Miller (1941: 402–404) discussed this name at length, provided the necessary evidence for the existence of a stabilized population of hybrid origin, and designated a lectotype from Dwight’s original series, albeit a wintering bird from outside the breeding range of the subspecies. As Miller (1941: 403) noted, Dwight’s original series is in AMNH, with the specimens he considered cismontanus so labeled and initialed with a ‘‘D,’’ and from among them Miller (1941: 403 [not 405, as in Paynter, 1970: 64]) designated AMNH 402559 the lectotype, citing the AMNH number. While it is confusing, especially in this case, to designate a lectotype from outside the breeding range of the taxon, the above specimen was part of the original series of birds that Dwight considered ‘‘ cismontanus ’’ and was available for lectotypification. The collecting locality of the lectotype, Sumas, Washington, becomes the type locality of cismontanus. Sumas is on the United States-Canada border, 49.00N, 122.16W (Times Atlas).

As given by Miller (1941: 404), this lectotype bears two labels: (1) Allan Brooks’ original label giving his name as collector and the sex, date, and place of collection; (2) Dwight Collection label with the Dwight no. 12281 and other collecting data on the front and on the reverse ‘‘hyemalis × oreganus D’’/ ‘‘5 cismontanus,’’ and AMNH 402559. In addition, the specimen is identified as ‘‘ Junco o[reganus] shufeldti ’’ in pencil on the front and reference is given to Miller’s lectotypification on the reverse. Junco oreganus shufeldti Coale, 1887, is the breeding bird in this part of Washington – British Columbia. I believe that Miller chose this specimen to be the lectotype because its characteristics most exactly matched those of the breeding population to the east of the mountains.

I found four additional specimens labeled ‘‘ cismontanus ’’ by Dwight and they are now identified as hybrid hyemalis × oreganus: AMNH 402160 (Dwight no. 41424), male, Ingram, Kerr Co., Texas; AMNH 402397 (38769), male, Dragoon Mts., Arizona; AMNH 402407 (38700), male, Battle Creek, California, 23 October 1898; and AMNH 402472 (20155), male, Okanagan, British Columbia, 29 April 1907. They are paralectotypes.

Contra Paynter (1970b: 64), Phillips did not provide J. hyemalis henshawi as a new name for cismontanus. Phillips (1962: 374) rejected Miller’s use of a wintering specimen of Dwight’s cismontanus as a lectotype for a subspecies of Junco hyemalis, accepting instead the specimens from the breeding population of juncos in British Columbia that Swarth (1922: 243) called Junco hyemalis connectens Coues. Coues’ type locality was in Colorado Springs and this form has been generally considered to be of hybrid origin. Swarth’s specimens from the Stikine River region in northern British Colombia would only include part of the range covered by connectens, and this left those birds without a name, for which Phillips provided Junco hyemalis henshawi, with the type from Bennett, British Columbia (59.49N, 135.01W, Times Atlas). When J. h. cismontanus is accepted as a valid name, J. h. henshawi becomes a synonym of it.