GROSBEAKS, FINCHES, SPARROWS: Family Fringillidae [571] 



on or close to the ground at the base of a shrub or under an overhanging 

 bank along a creek or trail (Plate 94). Breeding extends over a long 

 period. Our records contain dates for fresh eggs from May i to July 18. 

 After the nesting season the birds roam the country in small family 

 flocks that gradually merge into larger groups that sometimes number 

 into the hundreds. The birds fly close to the ground, straggling along a 

 few at a time unless flushed by some sudden disturbance. Once an ob- 

 server has learned their characteristic flight note and sharp alarm note, 

 he will hear them much more frequently than he will see them. If the 

 flock is alarmed, the birds make a quick dash to a thick tree where they 

 remain motionless, save for nervous twitchings of their tails, until the 

 danger is past, and then the chattering note is again heard for some little 

 time before the birds venture to return to their feeding place. 



Montana Junco: 



Junco oreganus montanus Ridgway 



DESCRIPTION. "Adult male: Head, neck, and chest slate color; back dull light 

 brown; sides pale pinkish; belly white; outer tail feathers largely white. Adult 

 female: similar, but duller, and brown of back extending up over crown. Adults in 

 winter: plumage softer. Young in first winter: similar to winter adults, but duller, 

 feathers edged largely with brownish. Male: length (skins) 5.49-6.00, wing 3.01- 

 3.2.8, tail 1.58-2.. 78, bill .39-. 44. Female: length (skins) 5.15-5.69, wing 1.88-3.03, 

 tail 1.35-1.65, bill .39-. 44." (Bailey) Nest and eggs: Similar to those of/, o. thurberi. 

 DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds in Canadian Zone from southern Alberta south to 

 Idaho and northwestern Montana. Winters south to Mexico. In Oregon: Known 

 only as winter resident of Wallowa, Umatilla, Union, Malheur, Baker, and Grant 

 Counties. 



ALTHOUGH the latest A. O. U. Check-List includes this subspecies, the 

 Montana Junco, as a breeding bird for eastern Oregon, we have so far 

 been unable to confirm this statement. All our breeding birds from the 

 northeastern corner of the State are much more nearly like/, o. shufeldti. 

 We do have numerous winter specimens of this gray-sided bird from the 

 mountains of northeastern Oregon, however, and they are easily dis- 

 tinguished in the hand from the much more common pink-sided shufeldti. 

 We are therefore listing this as a wintering species only for the Blue 

 Mountain area, where it is a regular winter resident at least as far south 

 as Ontario and the John Day Valley. It probably will be found farther 

 to the south, particularly in Harney County, when more adequate col- 

 lecting is carried out. The species is present from October (earliest date, 

 September i, Baker County) until March (latest date, April 15, Deschutes 

 County). In addition to our own numerous records from the Blue Moun- 

 tains, there are skins in the Biological Survey collection from Bend 

 (Deschutes County), April 15, 1915; Millers (Wasco County), April 10, 



