[398] BIRDS OF OREGON 



along the dry washes, where a combination of good soil and better 

 moisture conditions produce plants with the stature of small trees. It 

 seems somewhat out of place there, although the gray of its coat fits 

 perfectly into the gray landscape. Jewett (1913^ published as a first 

 record for the State two specimens taken in Harney County, June 2.5, 

 1908, by Wm. L. Finley, but we find that there are a number of prior 

 specimens in the Biological Survey collections. The earliest one we have 

 located was taken May 2.5, 1896, at Elgin, Union County, by Vernon 

 Bailey, who also took one at Burns, Harney County, July 6, 1896 (Ober- 

 holser i92.ob). Preble, who was with Bailey at Elgin, took an adult and 

 a nest with two eggs at the Narrows, Harney County, July 2.5, 1896 

 (Oberholser i92.ob). Since Jewett's publication, Walker (191^ and 

 i9iyb) has reported nesting records from the Paulina Mountains and the 

 vicinity of Bend, Deschutes County, and Willett (1919) has reported 

 the bird common in central Oregon. Numerous specimens have been 

 collected, by the writers and others, from Jefferson, Deschutes, Lake, 

 Harney, Malheur, and Union Counties, and we know that the species is 

 a regular summer resident of the great eastern Oregon sagebrush plateaus. 

 The Union County records are the only ones today from outside this area. 

 The birds arrive in May and remain until late August (earliest date, 

 April 2.8; latest, August 2.9, both Harney County). Jewett found them 

 building nests in the sagebrush in southern Harney County on May 2.3, 

 and Braly took a set of eggs in Deschutes County, June 15, 1930. Treble's 

 nest taken at the Narrows on July 2.5 is the latest egg date. 



Western Flycatcher: 



Empidonax difficilis difficilis Baird 



DESCRIPTION. "Adults: Upper parts olivaceous (brownish in winter), wing bars 

 dull buffy (brighter in winter); under parts dull yellow, shaded with brown across 

 breast, brightening to sulphur yellow on belly and under tail coverts; under wing 

 coverts buffy, deepening to ochraceous on edge of wing; width of bill at nostrils 

 decidedly greater than half the length of exposed culmen. Young: similar, but 

 browner above, with wing bands yellowish brown or rusty buff, sulphur yellow of 

 belly replaced by dull white. Length: 5.50-6.00. Male: wing 2.. 50-1. 90, tail 1.35- 

 z.6o, bill .57-. 63, bill from nostril .19-. 33, width at base .2.5-. 18, tarsus .64-. 69. 

 Female: wing i.3o-z.6o, tail z.zo-z.45." (Bailey) Nest: Usually near water, in 

 trees, bushes, or on rock ledges or beams of buildings or any similar location; built 

 of plant fiber, rootlets, leaves, moss, feathers, and other available material. Eggs: 

 3 or 4, white, blotched and spotted with brown and buff. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from Glacier Bay, Alaska, British Columbia, and 

 Montana south to California and Texas. Winters in Mexico. In Oregon: Fairly 

 common summer resident west of Cascades. Much less common in eastern Oregon. 



LIKE THE OTHER small flycatchers of its group, the Western Flycatcher is 

 not conspicuous or easily identified and is usually overlooked among the 

 more abundant Little Flycatchers. Because of the difficulty of field identi- 



