GROSBEAKS, FINCHES, SPARROWS: Family Fringillidae [599] 



length (skins) 5.95-6.62., wing 3.90-4.10, tail z. 39-1.61, bill .38-. 43." (Bailey) 

 Nest: A ground nest of dried grasses and feathers. Eggs: 4 or 5, white or tinted with 

 green or purple and speckled on larger end with brown. 



DISTRIBUTION.- General: Breeds in Arctic regions south to northern point of main- 

 land in Alaska and Quebec. Winters south into northern United States. Casual 

 farther south. In Oregon: Irregular winter visitor to eastern Oregon that has 

 straggled to coast. 



THE EASTERN SNOW BUNTING, whitest of all the numerous sparrows that 

 are found in Oregon, is an irregular winter visitor to the State. It arrives 

 in November (earliest date, November 17, Malheur County) and remains 

 until March (latest date, March 10, Wallowa County). It was first 

 reported by Bendire (1877) from Camp Harney. Woodcock (1902.) listed 

 this same Bendire record and also a statement of B. J. Bretherton that he 

 took two or three specimens every winter at Yaquina Bay. Our own 

 records and published notes are the only other sources of information 

 regarding its status in the State. In some winters it is quite common, 

 particularly in the Wallowa Valley, from which we have a number of 

 records and specimens. We have also seen it in Malheur and Harney 

 Counties, and when adequate winter collecting is done it most certainly 

 will be found much more frequently than our records indicate in eastern 

 Oregon, in the counties bordering the Blue Mountains and thence to the 

 south of the Columbia River. For western Oregon, Jewett (1913 a) re- 

 corded a single specimen taken by Murie at Netarts, Tillamook County, 

 December 31, 1912., and Walker took one at the same place, October 2.7, 

 1934. 



While in Oregon, the Snow Bunting's behavior is similar to that of 

 the Horned Larks and Rosy Finches. The birds feed in the stubble fields 

 and open grasslands in flocks that sometimes attain considerable size. 

 We have seen them in mixed flocks with Horned Larks but more fre- 

 quently by themselves. Their flight behavior is quite characteristic: 

 When the birds feeding on the weed seeds, waste grain in stubble fields, 

 or summer fallow are alarmed they take off in irregular flocks that whirl 

 about in the air for a few moments and then frequently return to the 

 same spot from which they had alighted or to a nearby place. This 

 characteristic behavior and their very marked plumage will be certain to 

 identify the birds without difficulty. 



