1889. | BENDIRE on the Hlabits of the Genus Passerella. L132 
Passerella iliaca schistacea (Baird), SLATE-cOoLORED 
SPARROW. 
This form was discovered by Lieut. F. T. Bryant, U. S.A., 
on the headwaters of the Platte River, Colorado, in July, 1856, 
and first described by the late Prof. S. F. Baird in 1858. Its 
range extends from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, 
across the great Basin to the western spurs of the Sierra Nevada 
in California and the eastern slopes of the Cascade range in 
Oregon ; during its migrations, at least, I obtained it in the latter 
range in the vicinity of Fort Klamath, but only as a straggler. 
Mr. F. Stephens collected a specimen in February, 1880, in the 
vicinity of Tucson, Arizona, which marks the most southern point 
of its range as far as known at present. I have found it nesting as 
far north as the Palouze River in Whitman County, Washington 
Territory, in Lat. 47°, Long. 41° west of Washington, where I 
took a nest containing three eggs of this form and an egg of 
Molothrus ater, the Cowbird, on June 18, 1879. This locality 
marks the most westerly point where the latter species has been 
found as yet, I believe. My most westerly record where I found 
the Slate-colored Sparrow breeding, is on the headwaters of the 
Des Chutes or Fall River in Crook County, Oregon, June 13, 
1882. While this bird certainly covers an extensive range during 
the breeding season, it seems to be extremely irregularly dis- 
tributed. I have found it fairly abundant in some sections and 
entirely absent in others, although apparently equally suitable to 
it. Mr. R. Ridgway found it very plentiful in Parley’s Park in 
the Wahsatch Mountains, Utah, and was the first naturalist to 
discover its nest and eggs. According to my own observations it 
is not so much a forest-loving bird as the two preceding forms, 
and seems rather to prefer the willows and rose thickets along 
the streams in the more open country, but is generally most 
abundant close to the foot-hills of the mountains. I have had 
excellent opportunities to observe it during four seasons while sta- 
tioned at Camp Harney, Grant County, Oregon, where I found 
ita common summer resident and took a number of its nests and 
eggs. ‘Lhe Post (now abandoned) was located in the mouth of a 
canon on the southern slope of one of the spurs of the Blue 
Mountains. A small mountain stream, appropriately named 
