GROSBEAKS, FINCHES, SPARROWS: Family Fringillidae [563] 



with the rufous patch on the bend of the wing serve to distinguish it 

 from all others in the State. 



Jewett has found nests containing fresh eggs in Guano Valley (Lake 

 County) on May 2.4 and Hay Creek (Jefferson County) on June 2.0, Braly 

 (ms.) took eggs in Klamath County on May 18 and 15, and Bendire 

 (Brewer 1875) recorded a nest and eggs at Camp Harney, May 17, 1875, 

 which was not only the first published nesting record for the State, but 

 also the first record of the species for the State. Subsequent writers have 

 listed it from many localities. These published references, the manuscript 

 notes in the Biological Survey, and our own rather voluminous records 

 show it to be one of the characteristic breeding birds. 



Western Lark Sparrow: 



Chondestes grammacus strigatus Swainson 



DESCRIPTION. "Adults: Sides of head with chestnut patch and black and white streaks; 

 crown chestnut, with white or buffy median stripe; rest of upper parts brownish 

 gray, the back streaked with blackish; tail blackish brown with white corners, all but 

 middle feathers tipped with white; under parts white, with a small black central 

 spot on breast. Young: without chestnut patch or black and white streaks on head; 

 entire upper parts buffy or brownish, streaked; chest with wedge-shaped blackish 

 streaks. Male: length (skins) 5.60-6.60, wing 3.10-3.61, tail 1.51-3.00, bill .41- 

 .54. Female: length (skins) 5.50-6.75, wing 3.11-3.51, tail 1.40-1.81, bill .41-. 51." 

 (Bailey) Nest: On ground or in bushes or low trees, a somewhat flimsy structure 

 of dried grasses and plant stems. Eggs: 3 to 6, white, strikingly lined and speckled, 

 especially on the large end, with black and brown (Plate 93, A). 

 DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from southern British Columbia and southern 

 Saskatchewan south to Mexico and east to Great Plains. Winters south to Central 

 America. In Oregon: Common summer resident of all of eastern Oregon, except 

 higher mountains. Equally abundant in valleys of Jackson and Josephine Counties. 

 Less common in Umpqua Valley, straggling occasionally northward into Willamette 

 Valley. 



THE WESTERN LARK SPARROW is easily identified by the brown head 

 markings, the brown spot in the center of the breast, and the white tips 

 to the tail feathers that become conspicuous when the tail is spread 

 fanwise in flight, a mannerism characteristic of the species. This sparrow 

 has a curious distribution in Oregon. It is an abundant roadside bird of 

 the valleys east of the Cascades, is equally numerous in the Rogue River 

 Valley, and is noted frequently but not commonly in the Umpqua Valley. 

 It becomes common the last ten days of March (earliest date, February 

 11, Jackson County) and remains until about September 15. 



The first published Oregon record was by Baird (Baird, Cassin, and 

 Lawrence 1858), who reported it from The Dalles, May n, 1856. Many 

 subsequent writers have listed it. Johnson (1880) stated that it was a 

 tolerably common breeder in the Willamette Valley, a condition that 

 certainly does not prevail at present, although Jewett saw one near 



