the coastal subspecies. A. r. scottii, described by George Sennett in 1888, is found from northern Arizona to New Mexico south to northeastern Sonora and northwestern Coahuila. It appears to be a darker gray than A. r. eremoeca and has narrower and darker rufous streaks on its breast. A. r. rupicola was described by van Rossem in 1946. It is found in the mountains of southwestern Arizona. It is similar in appearance to A. r. scottii but is darker and grayer on its back. A. r. simulans was described by van Rossem in 1934, and it is found in northwestern Mexico from southeastern Sonora and southwestern Chihuahua to Nayarit and northern Jalisco. It has more rufous coloration on its back and is paler on its underbelly than A. r. scottii. A. r. eremoeca was described by N. C. Brown in 1882. It is found from southeastern Colorado to New Mexico, Texas, northern Chihuahua, and central Coahuila. It has grayish upperparts and a dark breast. A. r. fusca, described by Edward William Nelson in 1897, is found in western Mexico from southern Nayarit to southwestern Jalisco, northern Colima, and Michoacan. It is darker and more rufous on its upperparts than A. r. australis. It also possesses a darker rufous crown which does not show a gray stripe down the middle. A. r. boucardi was described by Philip Sclater in 1867, and it is found in eastern Mexico from southern Coahuila to San Luis Potosí, northern Puebla, and southern Oaxaca. This subspecies is darker than A. r. eremoeca and has dull brown, not rufous, streaking on the chest. A. r. australis, described by Edward William Nelson in 1897, occurs in southern Mexico from Guerrero to southern Puebla and Oaxaca. A. r. scottii is similar in appearance, but this subspecies is smaller and has a shorter bill. The other six subspecies that are occasionally recognized are A. r. extima and A. r. pallidissima, which were described by A. R. Phillips in 1966, A. r. phillipsi, which was described by J.P. Hubbard and Crossin in 1974, and A. r. duponti, A. r. laybournae, and A. r. suttoni, which were described by J.P. Hubbard in 1975. Description The rufous-crowned sparrow is a smallish sparrow at in length, with males tending to be larger than females. It ranges from in weight and averages about . It has a brown back with darker streaks and gray underparts.