[434] BIRDS OF OREGON 



the interior valleys west of the Cascades, we have records from Tillamook 

 and Lincoln Counties, and there are records in the files of the Biological 

 Survey from Scottsburg (specimen, October 8, 1908, V. Bailey), Douglas 

 County; Wedderburn (specimen, October 2.6, 1909, V. Bailey), Curry 

 County; Mercer, Lane County on coast (various dates, O. Dowell, Jr.); 

 Tillamook County (specimen, December 10, 1915, Alex Walker); and 

 Empire (October 2.0-2.9, 1909), Coquille (November 3-11, 1909), and 

 Bandon (November 13-2.7, 1909), Coos County, (D. D. Streeter, Jr.) Our 

 own specimens are scattered from Portland to Grants Pass, Williams, and 

 Ashland in the Rogue River Valley, which, together with the above 

 Survey records, blanket the entire western part of the State. 



The species nests commonly. Egg dates range from April x8 to June 19, 

 and the number of eggs varies from three to nine. There were nine in 

 each of two sets collected by Jewett on Government Island on May 10 

 and June 19, 1901. 



This is one of the characteristic ever-present species of the lowlands 

 along the Columbia and Willamette. During the winter, flocks of these 

 friendly little birds, sometimes mixed with kinglets, nuthatches, and 

 creepers, work over the buds and bark of the deciduous trees. Occasion- 

 ally they will be found in the conifers in company with the Chestnut- 

 backed Chickadees, but usually each sticks to its own territory. This 

 chickadee's cheerful, whistled note and confiding ways endear it to the 

 nature lovers who make a specialty of feeding birds during the winter, 

 and it is usually one of the first and most persistent visitors to the feeding 

 stations. 



Grinnell's Chickadee: 



Penthestes gambeli grinnelli van Rossem 



DESCRIPTION. "Throat and top of head jet black; black of head broken by white 

 superciliary line; sides of head white; back gray; median under parts grayish white; 

 sides dark gray, tinged with brown." (Bailey) Length: 5-6, wing 2.. 60, tail 1.19. 

 Nest: In holes in trees, usually lined with fur. Eggs: 5 to 9, plain white or spotted 

 with reddish brown, mostly about the large end. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from northern British Columbia south to east- 

 central Oregon and northern Idaho. In Oregon: Permanent resident and breeding 

 species of northeastern Oregon in Blue Mountain area. 



GRINNELL'S CHICKADEE, the somewhat poorly differentiated form de- 

 scribed from northern Idaho, extends into northeastern Oregon. We 

 have specimens from Wallowa, Baker, Grant, and Crook Counties that 

 are fairly typical of the race, and there are birds in the Biological Survey 

 collection from Steens Mountains and Rome. Our sight records from 

 Umatilla, Union, and northern Harney and Malheur Counties belong 

 here. Captain Bendire (Brewer 1875) collected specimens near Camp 

 Harney "about December 5, 1874, an d prior" and found a nest contain- 



