HISTORY OF OREGON ORNITHOLOGY [51] 



country on April 16, 1835. Townsend remained at Fort Vancouver, 

 making excursions from there to the Blue Mountains and up the Willa- 

 mette for short distances, until November 30, 1836, when he again crossed 

 out over the Columbia bar, bound for his home in Philadelphia. 



Townsend reaped a rich harvest of birds and mammals during his long 

 visit to the Oregon territory, but his notes are so vague that many of the 

 forms cannot be definitely localized. Much of his time was spent at Fort 

 Vancouver, and many of the small western birds were described from 

 specimens he collected there. Among them are two that have since been 

 definitely ascribed to what is now Oregon. The type locality of the Black- 

 throated Gray Warbler is old Fort William, which stood near the present 

 site of the city of Portland; and that of Townsend's Solitaire is Astoria, 

 which is a case of the first described specimen coming from a point distant 

 from the normal range of the species. 



The Reverend Samuel Parker in his Journal of an Exploring Trip Beyond 

 the Rocky Mountains, a trip performed in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837 

 (revised ed. 1844) gives credit to Townsend for aid in the following inter- 

 esting account of "the birds of Oregon:" 



The birds of Oregon are not so numerous as those which inhabit civilized countries, prob- 

 ably because they have not access to the grain and fruit of cultivated fields, and the woods 

 and groves are more widely dispersed. But they are sufficiently numerous to employ an 

 ornithologist profitably, for a great length of time in collecting and preserving specimens. 

 This region is particularly interesting from the fact, that . . . , it has hitherto been an unex- 

 plored field no competent scientific person having visited this country to classify the differ- 

 ent genera and species. Mr. J. K. Townsend, of Philadelphia, an ornithologist, has spent z 

 years in examining scientifically this field, and will probably give to the public the result 

 of his labors. I am indebted to him for assistance in the following summary. 



The largest part of the feathered race are migratory, and are seen only a part of the year. 

 There are many, however that reside here during the whole year. Among these are the 

 majestic white-headed eagle, and the golden eagle, and 3 or 4 species of hawks, z species of 

 jay, the magpie, Corvus pica, and thousands of ravens and crows; several species of small 

 sparrows, and z or 3 species of grouse, the common partridge of the United States, and the 

 dusky grouse of the Rocky Mountains; and also an interesting species of the dipper or water 

 ousel. . . . The red-winged black-bird and the robin continue throughout the year. The 

 notes of the latter are heard even in the chill of winter, though in feeble strains. 



As the autumn advances, the number of swans, geese and ducks multiply. . . . The black 

 cormorant is common upon the Columbia river, and there are other species of the same genus, 

 seen about the shores of the Cape, which do not ascend the rivers. Among these is the violet 

 green cormorant, the most splendid of all the known species of cormorants. The loon, or 

 great northern diver, is very plentiful in this river. Gulls, terns, auks, and petrels, in great 

 numbers, visit this river to seek shelter from the violent storms which agitate the ocean 

 during the winter. 



. . . Among these [that remain through the summer] are hundreds of warblers, wrens, 

 titmice and nuthatches. Of the warblers there are n species, 6 of which are new; the other 

 5 are common to the States. Several of the species are but transient visitors, but most of them 

 remain through the season. Of the wrens there are 6 species; three of the titmice, and z of 

 the nuthatches. And in the train follow the thrushes, of which there are 7 species, z of 

 which are new; of these Wilson's thrush is pre-eminent in sweetness of song. The fly-catchers 

 number 8 species, 3 of which are new; and there are 13 species of finches, 3 of which are new. 



