[538] BIRDS OF OREGON 



specimens in Wheeler County in 1899, the only record we have for the 

 Blue Mountain area. 



In the Cascades, the species is found mingled with Cassin's Purple 

 Finch. In the higher parts of the range, Cassin's is the more abundant, 

 but lower down the reverse is true. 



We have few actual nesting records for the State, although newly 

 fledged young are a common sight beginning in early June. On May 2.4, 

 1931, Braly took two sets of five eggs each near Klamath Falls, which is 

 one of the localities on the eastern slope of the Cascades where the species 

 is found. The nests were made of stems, roots, fine grass, and mosses, 

 and were lined with wool. 



Cassin's Purple Finch: 



Carpodacus cassini Baird 



DESCRIPTION. "Adult male: Top of head with squarish patch of bright crimson; rump 

 dull rose pink; back and scapulars dull pinkish brown, sharply streaked with dark 

 brown; under parts pale pink fading to unstreaked white on belly; lower tail coverts 

 usually conspicuously streaked with dusky; wing feathers edged with reddish; tail much 

 shorter than wing, deeply emarginate. Adult female: whole body sharply streaked 

 with dusky; ground color of upper parts olive gray; of under parts white. Young: 

 similar to female, but streaks of lower parts narrower and wing edgings more 

 ochraceous. Male: length (skins) 5.39-6.19, wing 3.51-3.80, tail 1.34-1.71, bill 

 47-.5I. Female: length (skins) 5.55-6.05, wing 3.41-3.60, bill .49-. 50." (Bailey) 

 Nest: A thin platform of rootlets and grass, usually on a horizontal branch of a small 

 conifer. Eggs: i to 4, white, finely speckled, particularly about the larger end, with 

 black and brown. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds in Boreal Zones from British Columbia, Montana, 

 Wyoming, Lower California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Winters in adjacent 

 lowlands. In Oregon: Permanent resident of higher parts of Blue, Steens, and Warner 

 Mountains, Hart Mountain, Cascades, and Siskiyous at least as far as Josephine 

 County, according to Peck (1917). Winters on lower slopes of these ranges. 



BENDIRE (Brewer 1875) nrst f un d Cassin's Purple Finch in this State at 

 Camp Harney. Mearns (1879) found it at Fort Klamath, and Henshaw 

 (1880) at The Dalles. Our field notes and those of other members of the 

 Biological Survey show it to be a regular permanent resident of all the 

 principal ranges of Oregon, except the Coast Ranges. It is particularly 

 abundant in the Cascades, the Blue Mountains, and the Warner Moun- 

 tains, where it is a conspicuous element in the avifauna from the yellow 

 pine up to timber line. It is found along the eastern slope of the Cascades 

 in Wasco, Deschutes, and Klamath Counties, where it mingles with the 

 California Purple Finch along the lower edge of the timber. The sharply 

 defined and much brighter crown patch distinguishes the male bird from 

 the California Purple Finch, and the darker brown streaks of the back 

 and the lack of olive-green wash above distinguish the females and young 

 from the latter form. 



Although the streaked newly fledged young are a familiar sight, the 



