GROSBEAKS, FINCHES, SPARROWS: Family Fringillidae [591] 



three newly hatched young and one egg about to hatch near Lick Creek 

 Ranger Station, Wallowa National Forest, July 17, 192.6. 



Lincoln's Sparrow occasionally strays to western Oregon in migration, 

 as there is a skin in Jewett's collection from Carlton, Yamhill County, 

 taken May i, 19x1, that is certainly this form. There is also an immature 

 male from Bolan Lake, Josephine County, taken August 19, 1933, that 

 probably was hatched in the vicinity of the lake. These two constitute 

 our only records for this form west of the Cascades. 



Forbush's Sparrow: 



Melospifa lincolni gracilis (Kittlitz) 



DESCRIPTION. "Similar to lincolni, but superciliary stripe and upper parts more 

 strongly olivaceous, and dark streaks, especially on back and upper tail coverts 

 coarser, blacker, and more numerous. Wing: ~L. 35, tail 1.13." (Bailey) Nest and 

 eggs: Similar to those of M. I. lincolni. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from Prince William Sound to Sitkan district, 

 Alaska. Winters south to Lower California and Central America. In Oregon: 

 Appears only as uncommon migrant, of which we have seven specimens. 



FORBUSH'S SPARROW, the northern breeding form, distinguished from 

 typical M. /. lincolni by the much wider black stripes that give it a much 

 darker coloration, is found as a rather inconspicuous migrant through- 

 out western Oregon. Its small size and resemblance to a song sparrow, 

 together with the fact that it is usually associated with the swarms of 

 migrating sparrows, make it rather difficult to detect. Careful and con- 

 tinuous collecting during April, May, and October will reveal it in most 

 localities in western Oregon where it frequents the weed patches and 

 brushy bottoms in company with the hordes of Zonotrichia and other 

 migrating sparrows. We have specimens from Portland (October n and 

 ii, May 5), Rickreall (December 14), Marshfield (November 2.6), and 

 Medford (April 2.3). There is also a skin in the Biological Survey collec- 

 tion taken at Ashland, May 6, 1914, by Goldman. The only reference to 

 this form in Oregon literature that we have found is our own record in 

 the Birds of the Portland Area (Jewett and Gabrielson 1919) where we 

 recorded our specimens from Portland as listed above. 



Mountain Song Sparrow: 



Melospifa melodia fallax (Baird) 



DESCRIPTION. "Upper parts grayish streaked with black and brown; wings and 

 tail brown; under parts white, chest and sides streaked with brown, streaks more or 

 less confluent on breast. Male: length (skins) 5.58-6.49, wing i. 58-2.. 91, tail 

 1.50-3.01, bill .44-. 55. Female: length (skins) 5.35-6.34, wing 1.46-1.75, tail 

 1.46-1.86, bill .41-. 50." (Bailey) Nest: A compact cup, woven of grass, in low 

 bushes or on the ground. Eggs: 4 or 5, greenish white, spotted with reddish brown. 



