20 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 70 



(1973) consider the dominant vegetation of the eastern Siskiyou and 

 Cascade mountains to differ from that of the western Siskiyou Moun- 

 tains. Information on the avifauna of the Siskiyou Mountains is not 

 sufficient to compare species composition between the eastern and 

 western Siskiyou Mountains. Further study in all disciplines of verte- 

 brate zoology (S. Cross, personal communication), botany (J. F 

 Franklin, personal communication), and geology (W. Purdom, 

 personal communication) are required to evaluate the avian ecology 

 in the Siskiyou Mountains. 



The absence of seven species in the Siskiyou Mountains of Jackson 

 County may be attributed to the absence of certain habitats. For 

 example, no sizeable bodies of water exist in the drier Siskiyou Moun- 

 tains which may account for the absence of Bank Swallows, Purple 

 Martins, and Lincoln's Sparrows. Also, the Siskiyou Mountains have 

 received little ornithological attention, and some species may have 

 been simply overlooked. Listed below are seven species that breed in 

 the Cascade Mountains with suggested reasons for the species absence 

 in the Siskiyou Mountains. 

 Bank Swallow. — This swallow requires specific nesting habitat that is 



lacking in the Siskiyou Mountains. 

 Purple Martin. — This species is possibly not found in the Siskiyou 

 Mountains because of little habitat near reservoirs where it 

 has bred in the Cascade Mountains. 

 Black-billed Magpie. — Stragglers apparently originate from Klamath 



County moving over the Cascade Mountains. 

 Pygmy Nuthatch. — The distribution of this species is puzzling. 

 Pinus ponderosa stands and Mixed Conifer Forest where Finns 

 is dominant cover much of the Siskiyou Mountains although 

 there are no records of this nuthatch in Jackson County except 

 from the Cascade Mountains. Discontinuous distribution of the 

 species from California begins in the eastern Cascade Mountains. 

 Canon Wren. — Grinnell and Miller (1944:342) do not record this 

 wren in the California Siskiyou Mountains, although it seems 

 likely that it may breed in the canyons of the drier slopes of 

 the eastern Siskiyou Mountains. 

 Red Crossbill. — There are so few records of this species in the county 

 that its rarity is magnified by lack of man-hours spent in the 

 Siskiyou Mountains; it is likely that the species has been over- 

 looked. 

 Lincoln's Sparrow. — Lack of wet meadow-type habitat in the Siski- 

 you Mountains probably prevents this species from breeding 

 there. 



