1 6 Merrill, Birds of Fori Sherman^ Idaho. Vlzxx 



passes through in moderate numbers, a few remaining to breed on the 

 prairie. In September and early in October it is very common, especiallj' 

 so on the marsli. 



* Ammodramus leconteii. — A specimen taken on tlie marsh September 

 28, 1S96. It arose from tall marsh grass and alighted on a neighboring 

 swamp willow, from which a hasty shot dropped it ; great was my sur- 

 prise to pick up a Leconte's Sparrow. I do not think it has previously 

 been taken west of the Rocky Mountains. Careful search on several sub- 

 sequent days in the same locality failed to reveal other specimens. 



Zonotrichia leucophrys intermedia. — Fairly common in spring and fall. 



Spizella monticola ochracea. — Rare in winter. 



Spizella socialis arizonae. — Arriving about the last week in April, this 

 Sparrow is one of the commonest summer birds. 



Junco hyemalis connectens. — Arrives during the last week of February 

 or early in March, many returning from the north about the middle of 

 September. On April 3 a small flock was observed near the top of a 

 large pine tree; they were searching for insects near the ends of the 

 branches, assuming the various attitudes of Titmice for which, although 

 having watched them for some time, I mistook them until one was shot 

 and picked up. 



* Melospiza fasciata merrilli. — This new subspecies'. is a common sum- 

 mer visitor at Fort Sherman, frequenting the shores of the lake and 

 inflowing rivers, and following the smaller streams up to their sources in 

 the surrounding hills. Careful search during two winters failed to reveal 

 the presence of this bird, yet I am inclined to think that a few do pass 

 that season here in favorable localities; and that while the great majority 

 certainly do leave on account of the great depth of snow, their migration 

 is a short one to the southwest, where in eastern Washington and Oregon 

 the snow fall is much less and food more easily obtained in winter. I 

 have seen one as late as December 10, and have heard their song as early 

 as the last week in February ; by the middle of March they are fairly com- 

 mon. There is nothing in their notes or general habits to distinguish 

 them from the Song Sparrows of other parts of the country, but their 

 partiality to the immediate vicinity of water is very marked, and most of 

 the nests found during the seasons of 1895 and 1896 were in bushes grow- 

 ing in water. In 1896, a cold, backward season, a female taken April 24 

 had deposited her eggs and was incubating; and on May 25 a brood of 

 fully fledged young was seen. 



All the nests I have found were above the ground, one reason for 

 which is probably the great rise of water in the lake and rivers about 

 nesting time, a rise that yearly destroys many nests of this and 

 other low building species. Various kinds of bushes, and sometimes 

 small trees, are selected as suitable building sites for the nests; some- 

 times in the dense top of a wild rose on the river bank; sometimes in 



' See Auk, XIII, p. 46. 



