MEADOWLARKS AND BLACKBIRDS: Family Icteridae [519] 



parts; crown with buffy brown median stripe. Adult male in fall and winter: similar 

 to adult female, but streaking of upper parts blacker. Young, first plumage: like 

 adult female but more buffy, with necklace of faint dusky spots, flank streaks obso- 

 lete. Male: length (skins) 6.30-7.40, wing 3.69-4.00, tail 1.47-1.70, bill .58-. 69. 

 Female: length (skins) 6.00-6.55, wing 3-35~3-53> ta il 2 --3 I ~ 2 --54> bill .57-. 61." 

 (Bailey) Nest: A slight depression in the ground, lined with dry grass. Eggs: 

 5 to 7, gray to reddish brown, irregularly spotted and blotched with browns and 

 purples. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from southeastern British Columbia, central Alberta, 

 Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, south to northeastern California, 

 northern Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Missouri, and Ohio Valley. Winters in South 

 America. In Oregon: Summer resident and breeder in valleys about base of Blue 

 Mountains. Records from Wallowa, Union, Baker, Malheur, Harney, Lake, Crook, 

 and Grant Counties. 



THE BOBOLINK seems to be a comparatively new arrival in this State, as 

 so good an observer as Bendire failed to find it in the Harney Valley 

 during his stay, though it is now a regular resident of that area. The 

 first definite published record for Oregon was from Ironside, in northern 

 Malheur County (Peck 191 la), although Woodcock (1902.) listed a ques- 

 tionable record from Scio by Prill. As no specimen was taken, the record 

 has never been accepted as a definite first record for the State. Finley and 

 Bohlman collected specimens in Harney Valley in 1908 but failed to 

 record them. Anthony (1911) listed the species from Malheur, and 

 Willett (1919) included it in his list of breeding birds for the vicinity of 

 Malheur Lake. Prill (192.2^) found it in Warner Valley, and Shaw (1913) 

 listed it from several localities. 



The Bobolink arrives in May (earliest date, May 2.1, Lake County) and 

 remains until September (latest date, September 18, Harney County). 

 Our notes show that in the past few years the colonies in Wallowa and 

 Harney Valleys are the largest in the State and that the bird is present 

 in smaller numbers in Baker, northern Malheur, Grant, Lake, Union, 

 and Crook Counties. In the latter case, the birds noted east of Prineville 

 in July 1919 (Gabrielson) might have been wandering individuals from 

 either the John Day or Harney Valleys. So far as we can tell, the species 

 has made little advance in recent years. Although the farm lands of the 

 Willamette Valley would seem ideal for it, there has been no indication 

 that it has spread in that direction. Its conspicuous black and white 

 markings and rollicking song make it easy to detect, and it does not seem 

 probable that it would long be present in a territory without some bird 

 lover noticing it. Watch should be kept for it in western Oregon, to 

 which it may possibly spread at some future date. 



Western Meadowlark: 



Sturnella neglect a Audubon 



DESCRIPTION. "Adult male in breeding plumage: Crown with median buffy stripe; 

 lores yellow; superciliary buffy; rest of upper parts grayish brown, with buffy white 



