GROSBEAKS, FINCHES, SPARROWS: Family Fringillidae [595] 



Oberholser indicates that the bird belongs in the present race and there- 

 fore the record of M. m. kenaiensis for Oregon should be eliminated. The 

 last Oregon specimen known to us was taken by Walker, February 18, 

 1934, in Tillamook County. 



Rusty Song Sparrow: 



Melospi^a melodia morphna Oberholser 



DESCRIPTION. "Adults: Upper parts rusty olive, the rusty brown and black streaks 

 obscured; chest widely marked with heavy dark rufous streaks; flanks olivaceous 

 instead of tawny. Young: back dark brown streaked with blackish; under parts 

 whitish or baffy grayish; chest and sides buffy or brownish streaked with sooty 

 brown. Male: length (skins) 5.69-6.46, wing 1.55-1.81, tail 1.39-1.87, bill .47-. 54. 

 Female: length (skins) 5.58-6.19, wing 1.45-1.70, tail 1.18-1.67, bill .45-. 51." 

 (Bailey) Nest and eggs: Similar to those of M. m. fa/lax. (See Plate 97.) 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from southern Alaska to southern Oregon. Winters 

 south to southern California. In Oregon: Breeding form from west slope of Cascades 

 to Pacific and from Columbia River south to Rogue River Valley to, but not includ- 

 ing, southern Curry County. Winters throughout its breeding range and southward 

 into California. (See Figure 10.) 



THE FIRST RECORD definitely identifiable as morphna from Oregon was that 

 of Johnson (1880) from Forest Grove, Salem, and East Portland, but 

 since then this form has appeared many times in Oregon literature and 

 the cheerful brown-coated Rusty Song Sparrow is one of the most com- 

 mon and best known birds in the western part of the State. Every willow 

 thicket and every brush patch along the stream bottoms holds its quota 

 of song sparrows, and even the blackberry patches on the hillsides at 

 considerable distances from water are almost certain to shelter at least a 

 pair. In late summer and through the winter "Rusty" is a conspicuous 

 element in the wintering flocks of sparrows that are found in the weed 

 patches and along the fence rows. Although most birds sing only during 

 the breeding season, this one is a most persistent songster, often tuning 

 up on bright winter mornings as well as at most unexpected times and 

 places in the songless summer season. 



The species breeds abundantly through a long season. Nests with 

 fresh eggs have been found from April 15 to July 10. The nests are usually 

 built within a foot or two of the ground in thick bushes and normally 

 contain four eggs. 



The birds of the Rogue River Valley are a puzzling lot. Superficially 

 they resemble merrilli, the breeding bird from northeastern Washington 

 and northern Idaho, and many of our specimens have been so labeled by 

 various taxonomists who have seen them. To call these birds merrilli is 

 to cause needless confusion in an already badly tangled group, for genet- 

 ically they certainly are not the same and geographically they are widely 



