[394] BIRDS OF OREGON 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from Alaska, northwestern Mackenzie, Alberta, 

 Saskatchewan, and Manitoba to southern California and northern Mexico. Winters 

 from central California south into Mexico. In Oregon: Summer visitor throughout 

 State, except along coast. May winter rarely. 



AUDUBON (1838), who reported Say's Phoebe from the Blue Mountains, 

 first put this bird on the Oregon list, and most of the later writers have 

 recorded it. It is a hardy species that starts .its northward movement 

 almost as soon as do the robins and bluebirds. We have seen it as early 

 as February zx in Wasco and Jackson Counties, February 2.6 in Klamath 

 County, and February 2.8 in Wallowa County, and by March 15, though 

 the ground may still be frozen, it can be found regularly throughout its 

 range in the State. It is never an abundant bird, except for a few days 

 in the migration period, but it is widely distributed, single pairs being 

 found about nearly every deserted cabin. It is more common east of the 

 mountains but is a regular resident of the Rogue, Umpqua, and Willa- 

 mette Valleys. To date it has not been taken on the coast, although 

 stragglers might be taken there if more observers were at work. It often 

 remains until late September (latest normal date, October 19, Wasco 

 County). Jewett noted one in Malheur County, November x6, 192.8, and 

 Gabrielson saw a single individual in Coos County, December 6, 192.7, 

 and one in Benton County, December 2.9, 1918. These might have been 

 belated stragglers, but their occurrence more probably indicates occa- 

 sional wintering individuals, as these dates make records for every month 

 except January. 



Say's Phoebes probably begin nesting operations immediately upon 

 their arrival in the State, as Jewett found a nest in Morrow County on 

 April 3 that was ready for eggs and another on April 10 that contained 

 young. The nesting season covers an extended period, as we have found 

 nests containing eggs and newly hatched young as late as June 16 in 

 Harney County. 



In Oregon, these birds take the place of the phoebe, or "Bridge 

 Phoebe," dear to the heart of boyish egg collectors of the Middle West. 

 They build in similar places on the beams of small wooden bridges and 

 sit on the fences or telephone wires, emitting occasional mournful pro- 

 tests, accompanied by vigorous jerks of the tail, when an intruder inter- 

 feres with domestic affairs. They find the tumbling ruins of home- 

 steaders' buildings much to their liking also, and nearly every such ruin 

 harbors at least one pair of phoebes, even though great cliffs containing 

 an abundance of nesting sites may be close by. 



Little Flycatcher: 



Empidonax trailli brews teri Oberholser 



DESCRIPTION. "Width of bill at nostrils decidedly greater than half the length of 

 exposed culmen. Adults: eye ring whitish; upper parts olive, darker on head from 



