THE OREGON VESPER SPARROW. ———__—t09 
Two and sometimes three broods are raised in a season, the first in late 
April, the second in late June or early July. Pastures and fallow grounds are 
favorite spots for home building, but I have frequently come upon the nests 
in the open sage, and here oftenest upon hillsides or tops of low ridges. 
Altho not averse to the wilderness, there is reason to believe that this 
bird profits by the advent of civilization, and that its numbers are slowly 
increasing. 
No. 40. 
OREGON VESPER SPARROW. 
A. O. U. No. 540b. Pocecetes gramineus affinis Miller. 
Synonyms.—Paciric VESPER SPARROW. MuLLER’s Grass FINCH. 
Description.—Similar to P. g. confinis but smaller and coloration darker, 
browner above, more distinctly buffy below. Length of adult male about 5.75 
(146) ; wing 3.04 (77.2); tail 2.28 (57.9); bill .43 (10.9); tarsus .81 (20.6). 
Female a little smaller. 
Recognition Marks.—As in preceding, less liable to confusion because of 
absence of Brewer Sparrow, Western Lark Sparrow, etc., from range. 
Nesting.—Nest: on ploughed ground or under shelter of fern-stalk, fallen 
branch, or the like; of grasses lined with hair ; measures externally 3 inches across 
by 2 in depth, inside 24 across by 1% in depth. Eggs: 3 or 4, size and color 
as in preceding. Season: May; one brood, rarely two. 
General Range.—Pacific coast district from northern California north to 
British Columbia (including Vancouver Island); south in winter thru southern 
California to Cape St. Lucas. 
Range in Washington.—Of local occurrence on prairies and in cultivated 
valleys west of the Cascades—not common. 
Migrations.—S pring: ‘Tacoma April 9, 1906; April 13, 1907. 
Authorities.—Poocetes gramineus Ba[i]rd, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. 
XS aSs58;, p: 447 (part). (1): C&S. Ra. Bi 
Specimens.—(U. of W.) P. Prov. B. E. 
THE appearance of a Vesper Sparrow where trees are the rule is some- 
thing of an anomaly. Nevertheless, this plains-loving bird seems to do very 
well in the prairie region south of ‘Tacoma; and it has been here at least long 
enough to begin to assume the darker garb which characterizes old residents 
of the Sound region. 
The bird is becoming fairly common wherever conditions in the large 
are suitable for it. I found it in numbers at Dungeness in the spring of 1906; 
and the agricultural lands of the Skagit are being accepted by this gentle 
songster as tho duly made and provided. 
Mr. Bowles finds that eggs may not be looked for in the vicinity of 
