NUTHATCHES : Family Simdae [ 443 ] 



on Trout Creek in southern Harney County, June 2.1, 1930. It was dis- 

 covered by Gabrielson when the adult flushed almost in his face as he 

 was following a stock trail through the brush. Jewett has twice watched 

 birds carrying nesting material. On Hart Mountain, May 15, 192.4, he 

 saw a pair using fiber from a piece of burlap for their raw material, and 

 again on Hart Mountain, June 14, 192.6, he observed a pair nest building. 

 In neither instance was he able to return to see the completed nests. 



Nuthatches: Family Simdae 



Rocky Mountain Nuthatch: 



Sitta carolinensis nelsoni Mearns 



DESCRIPTION. Same as S. c. aculeata but averaging larger with stouter, heavier bill. 

 Size: Length 5.95, wing 3.70, tail 1.17, bill .80. Nest and eggs: Same as for Slender- 

 billed Nuthatch. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from southern Alberta south to Mexico, from Cas- 

 cades and Sierra Nevadas eastward through Rockies. In Oregon: Permanent resident 

 and breeding species in timbered sections east of eastern base of Cascades. 



BENDIRE (Brewer 1875) & rst reported the Rocky Mountain Nuthatch for 

 Oregon, from Camp Harney in November and December 1874, an d on 

 June 6, 1876, collected the first set of eggs near the same station (Bendire 

 1877). From that date until Jewett (19090) included it in his Baker 

 County list, it did not appear in Oregon bird literature, although the 

 files of the Biological Survey contain notes from the Blue Mountains 

 (Preble 1896; Cantwell 1919), Wallowa Lake (Young and Bailey 1897), 

 and Grande Ronde Valley (McLellan 1894). Walker (1917^ listed the 

 bird for Jefferson County, and Gabrielson (192^) for Wallowa County. 

 We have specimens available from Ochoco Ranger Station and Fossil 

 (Wheeler County), Wallowa Mountains (both in Wallowa and Baker 

 Counties), and northern Harney County, taken during the breeding 

 season; October and November birds from Hart Mountain and Lakeview 

 (Lake County), and Lapine (Deschutes County); and a February bird 

 from Bend (Deschutes County). We found a nest in a pine snag near 

 Lava Butte south of Bend. It was lined with wadding from an old 

 mattress lying beside the trail and contained eight eggs. 



Slender-billed Nuthatch: 



Sitta carolinensis aculeata Cassin 



DESCRIPTION. "Top of head and back of neck glossy blue black in sharp contrast to 

 clear white of sides of head and under parts; back bluish gray; wings and tail marked 

 with black and white, tertials dark or dull bluish gray, with black patch along shaft 

 of longest feather pointed at tip. Adult female: top of head grayish. Length: 5.00- 



