[396] BIRDS OF OREGON 



woven structure of plant fiber, shreds of bark, and down, lined with finer material, 

 moss and feathers, sometimes built on horizontal limbs of conifers and sometimes in 

 aspens and cottonwoods. Eggs: 3 or 4, creamy white, immaculate or sparingly 

 spotted with brown about the larger end. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from southern Alaska, Yukon, and southern Alberta 

 to Sierra Nevadas of central California and Colorado. Winters in Mexico. In 

 Oregon: Common summer resident of mountainous areas except Coast Ranges, where 

 it is of only casual occurrence. 



THE SMALL Hammond's Flycatcher is difficult to distinguish from the 

 several similar species found in the State. It has a narrow bill and a 

 more or less conspicuous dark chest band, characters that at times enable 

 one to identify it with reasonable certainty in the field, but there is 

 much chance of confusion, and for this reason we are ignoring our sight 

 records and are basing our statements regarding it on specimens actually 

 collected. It is commonly found in the Blue Mountains, including the 

 Wallowa Range, on both slopes of the Cascades, and in such isolated 

 ranges as the Steens, Hart, and Warner Mountains, where it frequents 

 the edges of coniferous forests, of mountain glades, and the shores of 

 lakes and tumbling streams. It arrives in May (earliest date, May 8, 

 Baker County) and remains until September (latest date, September 2.3, 

 Wallowa County). The eggs are laid in June and July. Our three nesting 

 records from the Blue Mountains are June 19, June 2.4, and July 17. 



This little flycatcher has appeared infrequently in the literature of 

 Oregon ornithology. Bendire (1877) listed it from Camp Harney, al- 

 though there is a possibility that he had it confused with the Gray 

 Flycatcher, a common bird in that territory that had not yet been de- 

 scribed. Merrill (1888) took specimens at Fort Klamath, and Shelton 

 (1917) listed it from several localities in eastern Lane County. All other 

 records, except our own published ones, are repetitions of these two. 

 There are specimens in either our own collections or those of the Bio- 

 logical Survey from Wasco, Grant, Wallowa, Baker, Harney, Umatilla, 

 Jackson, Deschutes, Lake, Crook, and Lane Counties. 



Wright's Flycatcher: 



Empidonax wrighti Baird 



DESCRIPTION. "Similar to hammondi, but bill wider, plumage grayer above, whiter 

 below, throat often whitish ; outer web of outer tail feather abruptly paler than inner web, 

 usually whitish. Length: 5.75-6.40. Male: wing 2.. 70-2.. 95, tail 2.. 55-2.. 80, bill .62.- 

 .69, bill from nostril .32.-. 38, width at base .2.4-. 2.7, tarsus .71-. 77. Female: wing 

 z. 55-2.. 75, tail 2.. 5 0-2.. 65." (Bailey) Nest: Of plant fibers and shreds of bark, lined 

 with feathers, hair, or moss, and usually placed in a fork of a bush or small tree or 

 fastened to the twigs. Eggs: 3 to 5, dull white (Plate 70, B~). 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from central British Columbia, Yukon, and Sas- 

 katchewan south to California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Winters in 

 Mexico. In Oregon: Common summer resident from eastern slopes of Cascades 

 eastward. Casual west of Cascades. 



