GROSBEAKS, FINCHES, SPARROWS: Family Fringillidae [585] 



Valdez Fox Sparrow: 



Passerella iliaca sinuosa Grinnell 



DESCRIPTION. Like the last two but bill relatively longer and more slender; inter- 

 mediate in color, being more reddish than in P. i. unalascbcensis and less so than 

 P. i. insularis. (Adapted from Swarth.) Si%e: Wing 3.05-3.19, tail i. 68-1. 98, bill 

 .43-. 50. Nest and eggs: Similar to those of P. i. altivagans. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds in vicinity of Prince William Sound, Middleton 

 Island, and on Kenai Peninsula. Winters south to northern Lower California. In 

 Oregon: Winters commonly west of Cascades, being most abundant form in Willamette 

 Valley and along western slope of Cascades. 



THE VALDEZ Fox SPARROW is the common form that winters along the 

 western base of the Cascades and through the Willamette, Umpqua, and 

 Rogue River Valleys. It arrives in October (earliest date, September 2.3) 

 and remains until March (latest date, April 30). Some 33 specimens, 

 either in the Biological Survey collections or our own, from the follow- 

 ing localities outline its range while within Oregon: Portland, Mount 

 Hood, Estacada, Corvallis, Salem, Philomath, Grants Pass, Pinehurst, 

 Mosquito Ranger Station (Jackson County), and Brownsboro, in the 

 interior valleys and along the Cascades, and Mercer and Netarts (single 

 specimens each) on the coast. In addition there is a single bird from 

 Warm Springs, April 30, 1915, collected by Alex Walker, now in the 

 Jewett collection, that was recorded erroneously we believe as from 

 Millers at the mouth of the Deschutes by Walker (1917^. 



Earlier records of fox sparrows are so confused that it is impossible to 

 separate them, but the records of Woodcock, Anthony, and Johnson 

 from the Willamette Valley in some cases most certainly refer to this 

 form. Jewett (191 6b) published the first definite record for Oregon, 

 when he recorded the Netarts bird taken January 6, 1913, and Walker 

 (i9iyb) referred to a specimen he took, April 30, 1915, that we believe 

 to be the Warm Springs bird mentioned above, although he located it 

 at Millers. The above records show this race to be the common winter- 

 ing form in western Oregon except along the coast, where it is much less 

 common than either juliginosa or townsendi. 



Yakutat Fox Sparrow: 



Passerella iliaca annectens Ridgway 



DESCRIPTION. "Similar to insularis, but smaller, especially the bill, and coloration 

 slightly browner." (Bailey) Si%e: Wing 3.13-3.15, tail 2.. 63-2.. 96, bill .43-. 49. 

 Nest and eggs: As in P. i. altivagans. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds in coast district of Alaska in vicinity of Yakutat 

 Bay. Winters south along coast to Los Angeles. In Oregon: Winters along coast and 

 inland to Portland but is one of less common forms. 



THE YAKUTAT Fox SPARROW again is one of the less common wintering 

 forms that undoubtedly winters in small numbers throughout western 



