[2.16] BIRDS OF OREGON 



somer blood relative. It is a fairly common resident of the alder and 

 willow bottoms of the State, although it has decreased much in numbers 

 in recent years. This form was originally described by Douglas (18x9) 

 from specimens collected on the Oregon coast, and it has been listed by 

 practically every ornithologist since that time. All of the specimens 

 available from the Cascades and the country to the west of the range 

 clearly belong to this form, except for a single female (Gabrielson Coll. 

 No. xi 60) taken at Rustler Peak, November 6, 19x6, on the west slope 

 of the Cascades in Jackson County that is apparently an eastern Oregon 

 bird. It closely matches our series of gray birds from the Blue Mountains 

 and lacks entirely the browns of the western Oregon bird, except for a 

 slight brown tinting on the base of the tail and a few brown feathers on 

 the back of the neck. 



The species nests throughout its range, and eggs have been found by 

 various observers from April 2.3 to May 2.9. In addition to our own and 

 published records, Alex Walker has furnished three nesting records for 

 Clackamas County: Mulino, May 18, 1912., 10 eggs, and May 4, 1913, n 

 eggs; and Canby, May 3, 1913, 8 eggs. 



Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse: 



Pedioecetes phasianellus columbianus (Ord) 



DESCRIPTION. "Adults: Upper parts grayish brown, with black and buffy markings; 

 under parts buffy or clear whitish, white or buffy prevailing in feathers with V- 

 shaped markings. Young: similar to adult female but grayer, and throat white." 

 (Bailey) Downy young: "Downy young sharp-tails are decidedly yellowish; the 

 general color varies from 'mustard yellow' above to 'straw yellow' below, washed 

 on the crown and back with 'ochraceous-tawny'; they are spotted on the crown and 

 blotched or streaked on the back with black; there is a black spot at the base of the 

 culmen and a black spot on the auriculars." (Bent) Si^e: "Length 15-19, wing 

 8.50-9.00, tail 4.00-5.50." (Bailey) Nest: A hollow in the ground, lined with 

 dried grass, weeds, and feathers. Eggs: 10 to 15, buff or olive buff, sometimes 

 spotted with small dots of dark brown. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Interior of British Columbia to northeastern California 

 (formerly), Utah, Colorado, and northern Mexico. In Oregon: Formerly found over 

 most of eastern Oregon but now, greatly reduced in numbers, an uncommon resident 

 of a few counties. Recorded in recent years in Wasco, Sherman, Morrow, Umatilla, 

 Wallowa, Union, Baker, and Harney Counties. 



THE COLUMBIAN SHARP-TAILED GROUSE, palest and grayest of the three 

 recognized races, was described by Ord in 1815 from specimens collected 

 by the Lewis and Clark expedition on the "great plains of the Columbia 

 River. ' ' In view of the fact that it is now a scarce bird and one apparently 

 headed for early extinction, it seems advisable to outline something of 

 the ornithological record available at this time. Douglas (182.9) recorded 

 it from the Plains of the Columbia, and Townsend (1839) credited it to 



