^°\'8^7^] Merrill, Birds of Fort Sherman, Idaho. 347 



is almost certain, however, that true arenacea does not breed in 

 Texas, and the eggs mentioned by Mr. Norris were doubtless 

 those of the common Field Sparrow or of the slightly paler but 

 equally small bird resident in some portions of that State. The 

 eggs of true arenacea will probably be found to average somewhat 

 larger than those of the eastern bird. 



NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF FORT SHERMAN, IDAHO. 



BY J. C. MERRILL, 



Major and Surgeon^ U. S. Army. 



Fort Sherman is situated in the northern part of the State of 

 Idaho in latitude 47° 40', longitude 116° 30', and at an elevation 

 of a little less than two thousand feet. The Idaho-Montana 

 boundary line, formed here by the divide of the Bitterroot 

 Mountains, is about seventy miles distant due east ; that of Idaho- 

 Washington is about eleven miles west, and that of British 

 Columbia about ninety-five miles north. 



The fort is on the northern shore of the northwestern arm of 

 Lake Coeur d'Alene, in the angle between the lake shore and the 

 head of Spokane River, which is the outlet of the lake and empties 

 into the Columbia about seventy-five miles north of west from the 

 lake. The latter is nearly twenty-four miles in length, compara- 

 tively narrow in most parts, and its general trend is north and 

 south. The Coeur d'Alene Mountains, north and east of the 

 lake, are a continuation of the Bitterroot range ; in them arises 

 the Coeur d'Alene River, trowing into the southern end of the 

 lake, and, still further south, the St. Joseph River forms the other 

 principal tributary. The hills — they can hardly be called moun- 

 tains — that encircle the lake are covered to the shores with a thick 

 growth of pines and firs of two or three species, with tamaracks 

 scattered throughout. Where streams flow into the lake there are 

 often flats of a few acres in extent, subject to overflow in the 



