GROSBEAKS, FINCHES, SPARROWS: Family Fringillidae [561] 



Western Grasshopper Sparrow: 



Ammodramus savannarum bimaculatus Swainson 



DESCRIPTION. "Adults in summer: under parts huffy on throat and sides, unmarked; 

 upper parts reddish brown, black, gray, and buffy; crown with median buffy stripe 

 between two blackish stripes; nuchal patch ash gray, marked with reddish brown; 

 feathers of back with black eye spots niched with reddish brown; edge of wing 

 yellow; tail double rounded and feathers sharp pointed. Adults in winter: brighter 

 colored, chest and sides sometimes indistinctly streaked with brown. Young: with 

 little or no reddish brown on upper parts, the feathers being more conspicuously 

 bordered with buffy and whitish; median crown stripe more ashy; lower parts 

 entirely dull buffy whitish, chest distinctly streaked with dusky. Male: length 

 (skins) 4.10-5.10, wing 1.15-1.61, tail 1.69-1.01, bill -4O-.46. Female: length 

 (skins) 4.40-4.85, wing 1.39-1.51, tail 1.81-1.00, bill .40-. 44." (Bailey) Nest: Of 

 dried grasses, more or less arched over, placed on ground. Eggs: 3 to 5, white, 

 spotted with brown, black, or lilac on larger end. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from southeastern British Columbia, Montana, 

 North Dakota, and Minnesota south to southern California and southern Texas. 

 Winters from central California and southern Texas south into Mexico. In Oregon: 

 Known from one specimen. 



WOODCOCK (1902.) listed the Western Grasshopper Sparrow from the 

 Willamette Valley on the authority of Ellis F. Hadley, who called it a 

 "rare migrant," at Dayton and stated that the Warner and Cooke's col- 

 lection contained a specimen taken May 4, 1888. We have gone over the 

 above collection without finding such a specimen, and Dr. Cooke has 

 no recollection of it. Under the circumstances we do not believe that 

 this constitutes a valid record for the bird in western Oregon. We would 

 look for the bird in the foothill country around the Blue Mountains 

 rather than in the wooded country of the western part of the State, and 

 the Western Grasshopper Sparrow is undoubtedly a more or less regular 

 migrant there, though it has been detected but once. There is a specimen 

 in the Biological Survey collection taken at Robinette, Baker County, 

 June 2.1, 1916, by H. H. Sheldon that is the only record for the State. 

 This is not surprising when the limited amount of work done in this 

 district is considered. The elusive habits of the bird render it difficult 

 to see, and the weak insectlike song is not likely to attract much atten- 

 tion to its author. 



Oregon Vesper Sparrow: 



Pooecetes gramineus affinis (Miller) 



DESCRIPTION. "Like confinis, but smaller, bill more slender, coloration browner; 

 ground color of upper parts buffy brown rather than grayish brown, and all the 

 light areas of the plumage, including under side of wings, suffused with pinkish 

 buff. Male: length (skins) 5.17-5.55, wing 1.90-3.15, tail 1.08-2.. 38, bill .40-. 45. 

 Female: length (skins) 5.04-5.65, wing 1.85-3.00, tail 1.10-1.17, bill .40-. 46." 

 (Bailey) Nest and eggs: Same as for P. g. confinis. 



