Familiar he certainly is; for while he has none of the vulgar obtrusiveness ofPasser domesticus, nor confesses any love for mere bricks and mortar, there is not a weedy back lot outside of the fire limits which he has not gladdened with his presence, nor a disordered wood-pile or brush-heap which he has not explored. Much lurking under cover in time of rain has darkened his plumage beyond that of the eastern bird, and close association with the fallen monarchs of the forest has reddened it, until he himself looks like a rusty fragment of a mouldering fir log.
It is as a songster, however, that we know this sparrow best. Silver-tongue’s melody is like sunshine, bountiful and free and ever grateful. Mounting some bush or upturned root, he greets his childish listeners with “Peace, peace, peace be unto you, my children.” And that is his message to all the world, “Peace, and good-will.” Once we sat stormbound at the mouth of our tent, and, mindful of the unused cameras, grumbled at the eternal drizzle. Whereupon the local poet flitted to a favorite perch on a stump hard by, and, throwing back his head, sang, with sympathetic earnestness, “Cheer up! Cheer up! Count your many merciesnow.” Of course he did say exactly that, and the childish emphasis he put upon the last word set us to laughing, my partner and me, until there was no more thought of complaint.
SONG SPARROW ASLEEP.SONG SPARROW ASLEEP.
SONG SPARROW ASLEEP.
Even in winter the brave-hearted bird avails himself of the slightest pretext—an hour of sunlight or a rise of temperature—to mount a bush and rehearse his cheerful lay. The song is not continuous, but it is frequently repeated thru periods of several minutes, and is followed by little intervals of placid contemplation.
But no matter how gentle a bird’s disposition may be, there is ample use, alack! for the note of warning and distrust. When, therefore, the Song Sparrow’s nesting haunts are invaded, the bird emits achiporchirp, still musical, indeed, but very anxious. In winter the resident birds deny themselves even this characteristic cry; and, except for the occasional outbursts of full song, they are limited to a high nasaltss, which seems to serve the purpose of a flocking, or recognition, call. Song Sparrows are not really gregarious birds; nor are they even seen in close proximity savein mating time; but they like to assure themselves, nevertheless, that a dozen of their fellows are within call against a time of need.
Silver-tongue is a bird of the ground and contiguous levels. When hiding, he does not seek the depths of the foliage in trees, but skulks among the dead leaves on the ground, or even threads his way thru log heaps. If driven from one covert, the bird dashes to another with an odd jerking flight, working its tail like a pump-handle, as tho to assist progress. Ordinarily the bird is not fearful, altho retiring in disposition. Apart from the haunts of men the Song Sparrow of western Washington is closely attached to the water; and is not to be looked for save in damp woods, in swamps, in the vicinity of open water, whether of lake or ocean, or along the brushy margins of streams. Indeed, its habits are beginning to assume a slightly aquatic character. Not only does it plash about carelessly in shallow water, but it sometimes seizes and devours small minnows.
Save in favored localities, such as the margins of a tule swamp, nests of the Rusty Song Sparrow are not obtrusively common. “Back East,” in a season of all around nesting, about one-fifth of the nests found would be those of the Song Sparrow. Not so on Puget Sound; for, altho the birds are common, heavy cover is ten times more common, and I would sooner undertake to find a dozen Warblers’ nests than as many Song Sparrows’. Nesting begins about April 1st, at which time nests are commonly built upon the ground or in a tussock of grass or tules. The end of a log, overshadowed by growing ferns, is a favorite place later in the season; while brush-heaps, bushes, fir saplings, trees, or clambering vines, such as ivy and clematis, are not despised.
The eggs, Mr. Bowles finds, are almost invariably four in number, as in a very large number of sets examined only one contained five eggs. They are of a light greenish blue in ground color, and are spotted and blotched heavily and irregularly with reddish browns, especially about the larger end. Several broods are raised each season.
The Rusty Song Sparrow, because of its abundance in winter, affords the impression of being strictly a resident bird in western Washington. Such may be the case with a majority of the individuals, but there is still evidence of a southward movement of the race, the place of local birds being supplied in winter partly by British Columbia birds, which show a heavier and more uniformly blended type of plumage, approaching that ofM. c. rufina.
A. O. U. No. 581 f.Melospiza melodia rufina(Bonap.).Description.—Similar toM. m. morphnabut larger and with coloration darker, more blended; general color of upperparts deep sooty brown or bister, brightening on greater wing-coverts and tertials; back obscurely streaked with darker; median crown-stripe obsolete or at least indistinct; streaking of underparts dark brown. Length 6.50 (165) or over; wing 2.75 (70); tail 2.64 (67); bill .48 (12.3); tarsus .92 (23.5).Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; dark brown coloration; plumage of upperparts blended, almost uniform. Requires careful distinction fromPasserellabut is smaller and variegation of head still traceable.Nesting.—As in preceding. Does not breed in Washington.General Range.—“Southern Alaska (islands and coast); north to Cross Sound, Glacier Bay, Lynn Canal, etc.; south to north side of Dixon Entrance, in winter to coast of British Columbia, Vancouver Island, and northwestern Washington (Olympic Mountains)” (Ridgway).Range in Washington.—Winter resident in northwestern portion of State—not common.Authorities.—M. cinerea rufina(Brandt),Ridgway, Birds of North and Middle America, Vol I. p. 374. E.Specimens.—Prov. E.
A. O. U. No. 581 f.Melospiza melodia rufina(Bonap.).
Description.—Similar toM. m. morphnabut larger and with coloration darker, more blended; general color of upperparts deep sooty brown or bister, brightening on greater wing-coverts and tertials; back obscurely streaked with darker; median crown-stripe obsolete or at least indistinct; streaking of underparts dark brown. Length 6.50 (165) or over; wing 2.75 (70); tail 2.64 (67); bill .48 (12.3); tarsus .92 (23.5).
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; dark brown coloration; plumage of upperparts blended, almost uniform. Requires careful distinction fromPasserellabut is smaller and variegation of head still traceable.
Nesting.—As in preceding. Does not breed in Washington.
General Range.—“Southern Alaska (islands and coast); north to Cross Sound, Glacier Bay, Lynn Canal, etc.; south to north side of Dixon Entrance, in winter to coast of British Columbia, Vancouver Island, and northwestern Washington (Olympic Mountains)” (Ridgway).
Range in Washington.—Winter resident in northwestern portion of State—not common.
Authorities.—M. cinerea rufina(Brandt),Ridgway, Birds of North and Middle America, Vol I. p. 374. E.
Specimens.—Prov. E.
These larger and darker birds reach our northern borders in winter only, having retired thus far from their home in southern Alaska. Their demeanor while with us is even more modest than that of the local Silver-tongue; and when one is stalking the dank woods of Whatcom County on thequi vivefor varieties, it requires a second glance to distinguish this Song Sparrow, with its softly blended plumage, from a winter Fox Sparrow.
A. O. U. No. 583.Melospiza lincolnii(Aud.).Synonyms.—Lincoln’s Song Sparrow. Lincoln Finch.Description.—Adults: Above, much likeM. melodia montana, but crown brighter rufous, and with more decided black markings: back browner and more broadly and smartly streaked with black; the gray of back sometimes with a bluish and sometimes with an olivaceous tinge; below, throat and belly white, the former never quite immaculate, but with small arrow-shaped black marks; sidesof head and neck and remaining underparts creamy buff, everywhere marked by elongated and sharply defined black streaks; usually an abrupt dusky spot on center of breast; bill blackish above, lighter below, feet brownish. Length about 5.75 (146.1); av. of six specimens; wing 2.48 (63); tail 2.11 (53.6); bill .40 (10.2).Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; bears general resemblance to Song Sparrow, from which it is clearly distinguished by buffy chest-band, and by narrow, sharp streaks of breast and sides.Nesting.—Nest: much like that of Rusty Song Sparrow, of dried grasses, etc., usually on ground, rarely in bushes.Eggs: 3 or 4, greenish white spotted and blotched with chestnut and grayish. Av. size, .80 × .58 (20.3 × 14.7).Season: June, July; two (?) broods.General Range.—North America at large breeding chiefly north of the United States (at least as far as the Yukon Valley) and in the higher parts of the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade-Sierras; south in winter to Panama.Range in Washington.—Imperfectly made out—probably not rare spring and fall migrant, at least west of the Cascades; found breeding in the Rainier National Park.Authorities.—[“Lincoln’s Finch,” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 22.]Bowles and Dawson, Auk, XXV. Oct. 1908, p. 483.Specimens.—(U. of W.) Prov. B.
A. O. U. No. 583.Melospiza lincolnii(Aud.).
Synonyms.—Lincoln’s Song Sparrow. Lincoln Finch.
Description.—Adults: Above, much likeM. melodia montana, but crown brighter rufous, and with more decided black markings: back browner and more broadly and smartly streaked with black; the gray of back sometimes with a bluish and sometimes with an olivaceous tinge; below, throat and belly white, the former never quite immaculate, but with small arrow-shaped black marks; sidesof head and neck and remaining underparts creamy buff, everywhere marked by elongated and sharply defined black streaks; usually an abrupt dusky spot on center of breast; bill blackish above, lighter below, feet brownish. Length about 5.75 (146.1); av. of six specimens; wing 2.48 (63); tail 2.11 (53.6); bill .40 (10.2).
Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; bears general resemblance to Song Sparrow, from which it is clearly distinguished by buffy chest-band, and by narrow, sharp streaks of breast and sides.
Nesting.—Nest: much like that of Rusty Song Sparrow, of dried grasses, etc., usually on ground, rarely in bushes.Eggs: 3 or 4, greenish white spotted and blotched with chestnut and grayish. Av. size, .80 × .58 (20.3 × 14.7).Season: June, July; two (?) broods.
General Range.—North America at large breeding chiefly north of the United States (at least as far as the Yukon Valley) and in the higher parts of the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade-Sierras; south in winter to Panama.
Range in Washington.—Imperfectly made out—probably not rare spring and fall migrant, at least west of the Cascades; found breeding in the Rainier National Park.
Authorities.—[“Lincoln’s Finch,” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 22.]Bowles and Dawson, Auk, XXV. Oct. 1908, p. 483.
Specimens.—(U. of W.) Prov. B.
Modesty is a beautiful trait, and, I suppose, if we had always to choose between the brazen arrogance of the English Sparrow and the shy timorousness of this bird-afraid-of-his-shadow, we should feel obliged to accept the latter. But why should a bird of such inconspicuous color steal silently thru our forests and slink along our streams with bated breath as if in mortal dread of the human eye? Are we then such hobgloblins?
Thrice only have I seen this bird, and then in northern Ohio. On the first occasion two of us followed a twinkling suspicion along a shadowy woodland stream for upwards of a hundred yards. Finally we neared the edge of the woods. There was light! exposure! recognition! With an inward groan the flitting shape quitted the last brush-pile and rose twenty feet to a tree-limb. Just an instant—but enough for our purpose—and he had whisked over our heads, hot-wing upon the dusky back trail. That same May day we came upon a little company of these Sparrows halted by the forbidding aspect of Lake Erie, and dallying for the nonce in the dense thickets which skirted a sluggish tributary. Here they skulked like moles, and it was only by patient endeavor that we were able to cut out a single bird and constrain it to intermittent exposure at the edge of the stream. Here, at intervals, from the opposite bank, we eagerly took note of its head-stripes, pale streaked breast, and very demure airs, and listened to snatches of a sweet but very weak song, with which the bird favored us in spite ofour “persecution.” Is it any wonder that the Lincoln Sparrow is so little known to fame?
While rated a regular summer resident of British America and Alaska, Lincoln’s Sparrow has also been found breeding in the mountains of eastern Oregon, California, Utah, and Colorado. It ought, therefore to occur in Washington; but we have only to shrug our shoulders and say with the lawyer,non est inventus. Indeed, the only positive record we have of the bird’s occurrence at any season is that of a specimen taken by A. Gordon Bowles, Jr., in Wright’s Park, Tacoma, May 22, 1906.
So much penned in good faith in April, 1908. In June of the same year the good fairy of the bird-man piloted him to a spot where the Lincoln Sparrows were so numerously and so thoroly at home, that he began to wonder whether he might not have been dreaming after all for the past quarter of a century. Ten or a dozen pairs were found occupying the well-known swamp at Longmire’s Springs. On the 30th of June they were much more in evidence than the Rusty Song Sparrows, which occupied the same grassy fastnesses; and altho the females were not done waiting on overgrown babies, the males were loudly urging their second suits.
Taken at Longmire’s Springs. LINCOLN’S SONG SPARROW. ALLAN BROOKS AFTER PHOTO BY THE AUTHOR.Taken at Longmire’s Springs.LINCOLN’S SONG SPARROW.ALLAN BROOKS AFTER PHOTO BY THE AUTHOR.
Taken at Longmire’s Springs.LINCOLN’S SONG SPARROW.ALLAN BROOKS AFTER PHOTO BY THE AUTHOR.
The song of the Lincoln Sparrow is of a distinctly musical order, being gushing, vivacious, and wren-like in quality, rather than lisping and wooden, like so many of our sparrow songs. Indeed, the bird shows a much stronger relationship in song to the Purple Finch than to its immediate congeners, the Song Sparrows. The principal strain is gurgling, rolling, and spontaneous, and the bird has ever the trick of adding two or three inconsequential notes atthe end of his ditty, quite in approved Purple Finch fashion. “Linkup, tinkup perly werly willie willie weeee(dim.)” said one; “Riggle, jiggle, eet eet eet eer oor,” another. “Che willy willy willy che quill”; “Lee lee lee quilly willy willy,” and other such, came with full force and freshness at a hundred yards to the listeners on the back porch at Longmire’s.
When studied in the swamp, the Lincoln Finches were found to be more reluctant than Song Sparrows to expose themselves, but one pair, anxious for their young, sat out against a clear sky again and again. The bird was seen occasionally to erect its crown feathers in inquiry or excitement, as do Chipping Sparrow, Nuttall Sparrow,et al.A Yellow Warbler, stumbling into the manorial bush, was set upon furiously; but she made off philosophically, knowing that her punishment was after the accepted code. A Rusty Song Sparrow, however, was allowed to sit quietly at a foot’s remove, not, apparently, because he was so much bigger, nor even because nearer of kin, but rather because of common parental anxiety. The contrast here was instructive; the Lincoln Sparrow being not only smaller but more lightly colored and with a sharp-cut streakiness of plumage. A comparison of many examples showed the similarity of head pattern between the two Sparrows to be very noticeable, while the buffy tinge of the Lincoln’s breast would appear to be one of its least constant marks.
An alleged sub-species, Forbush’s Sparrow,M. l. striata, “Similar toM. lincolnibut superciliary stripes and upperparts more strongly olivaceous, and dark streaks especially on back and upper tail-coverts, coarser, blacker, and more numerous,” has been ascribed to British Columbia and western Washington, but the material at hand is meager and inconclusive, and the proposed form has been passed upon adversely by Ridgway.
A. O. U. No. 585 a (part).Passerella iliaca insularisRidgway.[Description of Passerella iliaca unalaschensis(Shumagin Fox Sparrow).—Adults: “Pileum and hindneck brownish gray or grayish brown (nearly hair brown) passing into clear gray (mouse gray or smoke gray) on superciliary region and sides of neck; auricular region brownish gray, with narrow and indistinct shaft streaks of whitish; back, scapulars, and rump plain hair brown; greater wing-coverts, tertials and upper tail-coverts dull cinnamon brown, the rest of wings intermediate between the last named color and color of back, except edges of outermost primaries, which are pale hair brown; underparts white, the foreneck, sides of throat (submalar region), chest, and sides of breast marked with triangular spots of deep grayish brown or drab; the flanks broadly streaked or striped with the same (both sides and flanks mostly grayish brown laterally);malar region white flecked with grayish brown; under tail-coverts grayish brown centrally, broadly margined with white or buffy white; middle of throat and breast usually with a few small spots of brown; maxilla dusky on culmen, paler on tomia; mandible pale colored (yellowish in winter, pinkish or liliaceous in summer); iris brown; legs and feet brown” (Ridgway).]Description.—“Similar toP. i. unalaschensisbut much browner and more uniform in color above (back, etc., warm sepia brown instead of grayish brown or brownish gray); spots on chest, etc., larger and deeper brown; under tail coverts more strongly tipped with buff” (Ridgway). Length of adult male (skins): 6.78 (172.5); wing 3.30 (83.8); tail 2.92 (74.1); bill .50 (12.7); tarsus 1.02 (25.9).Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; uniform brownish coloration of back; underparts heavily spotted with brown;brownerthanunalaschensisbut duller thantownsendi; larger thanannectens; color of crown unbroken as compared with Rusty Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia morphna), also bird larger.General Range.—“Kadiak Island, Alaska, in summer; in winter south along the coast slope to southern California.”Range in Washington.—Winter resident and migrant west of Cascades.Authorities.—Passerella townsendiiBaird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858. p. 489 part (Whitbeys Id., winter).—FideRidgway.A singular fatality (or, more strictly,wantof fatality) has attended our efforts to secure a representative series of migrating Fox Sparrows on Puget Sound. The birds have only revealed themselves in city parks or otherwise in the absence of a gun. It is practically certain that all the Alaskan forms described by Mr. Ridgway occur here regularly in winter and during migrations but so unobtrusive are the birds and so dense the cover afforded that we have been completely baffled in our attempts, and find ourselves obliged, at the last moment, to fall back upon Mr. Ridgway’s original descriptions in Birds of North and Middle America, Vol. I. (p. 389 ff), and for the use of these we desire again to express our grateful obligations.For additional remarks on the Shumagin Fox Sparrow (P. i. unalaschensis) and the Yakutat Fox Sparrow (P. is annectens) see Hypothetical List in Volume II. of this work.
A. O. U. No. 585 a (part).Passerella iliaca insularisRidgway.
[Description of Passerella iliaca unalaschensis(Shumagin Fox Sparrow).—Adults: “Pileum and hindneck brownish gray or grayish brown (nearly hair brown) passing into clear gray (mouse gray or smoke gray) on superciliary region and sides of neck; auricular region brownish gray, with narrow and indistinct shaft streaks of whitish; back, scapulars, and rump plain hair brown; greater wing-coverts, tertials and upper tail-coverts dull cinnamon brown, the rest of wings intermediate between the last named color and color of back, except edges of outermost primaries, which are pale hair brown; underparts white, the foreneck, sides of throat (submalar region), chest, and sides of breast marked with triangular spots of deep grayish brown or drab; the flanks broadly streaked or striped with the same (both sides and flanks mostly grayish brown laterally);malar region white flecked with grayish brown; under tail-coverts grayish brown centrally, broadly margined with white or buffy white; middle of throat and breast usually with a few small spots of brown; maxilla dusky on culmen, paler on tomia; mandible pale colored (yellowish in winter, pinkish or liliaceous in summer); iris brown; legs and feet brown” (Ridgway).]
Description.—“Similar toP. i. unalaschensisbut much browner and more uniform in color above (back, etc., warm sepia brown instead of grayish brown or brownish gray); spots on chest, etc., larger and deeper brown; under tail coverts more strongly tipped with buff” (Ridgway). Length of adult male (skins): 6.78 (172.5); wing 3.30 (83.8); tail 2.92 (74.1); bill .50 (12.7); tarsus 1.02 (25.9).
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; uniform brownish coloration of back; underparts heavily spotted with brown;brownerthanunalaschensisbut duller thantownsendi; larger thanannectens; color of crown unbroken as compared with Rusty Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia morphna), also bird larger.
General Range.—“Kadiak Island, Alaska, in summer; in winter south along the coast slope to southern California.”
Range in Washington.—Winter resident and migrant west of Cascades.
Authorities.—Passerella townsendiiBaird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858. p. 489 part (Whitbeys Id., winter).—FideRidgway.
A singular fatality (or, more strictly,wantof fatality) has attended our efforts to secure a representative series of migrating Fox Sparrows on Puget Sound. The birds have only revealed themselves in city parks or otherwise in the absence of a gun. It is practically certain that all the Alaskan forms described by Mr. Ridgway occur here regularly in winter and during migrations but so unobtrusive are the birds and so dense the cover afforded that we have been completely baffled in our attempts, and find ourselves obliged, at the last moment, to fall back upon Mr. Ridgway’s original descriptions in Birds of North and Middle America, Vol. I. (p. 389 ff), and for the use of these we desire again to express our grateful obligations.
For additional remarks on the Shumagin Fox Sparrow (P. i. unalaschensis) and the Yakutat Fox Sparrow (P. is annectens) see Hypothetical List in Volume II. of this work.
Field identification of the Fox Sparrows by means of binoculars may not command the respect of precise scientists. But there he sat, placid, at twenty feet, in a well-lighted grove on the Nisqually Flats, on the 10th day of February, 1906. See; twenty divided by eight (the magnifying power of the glasses) equals two and a half. At arm’s length I held him, while I noted that the upperparts were dull hair-brown thruout, not noticeably brightening on wings and tail but perhaps a shade darker on the crown; underparts heavily butclearlyspotted with a warmer brown—so, obviously and indisputably, neither a Sooty nor a Townsend. Shumagin (P. i. unalaschensis) perhaps; but Ridgway[20]enters all Puget Sound winter records as Kadiaks, and we must follow the gleam until we are able to perfect the light of our own little lanterns by the flash of a shot-gun.
A. O. U. No. 585 a (part).Passerella iliaca townsendi(Audubon).[Description of P. i. annectens(Yakutat Fox Sparrow).—“Similar toP. i. insularisbut smaller (the bill especially) and coloration slightly browner” (Ridgw.).]Description.—Adults: Similar toP. i. annectensbut coloration darker and richer (inclining to chestnut brown); spots on chest, etc., larger. “Above deep vandyke brown, duller (more sooty) on pileum, more reddish (inclining to burnt umber or dark chestnut brown) on upper tail-coverts and tail; sides of head deep sooty brown, the lores dotted, the auricular region finely streaked, with dull whitish; general color of underparts white, but everywhere spotted or streaked with deep chestnut brown or vandyke brown, the spots mostly of triangular (deltoid and cuneate) form, very heavy and more or less confluent on chest, smaller on throat and breast; sides and flanks almost uniform deep brown, the latter tinged with buffy or pale tawny, under tail-coverts deep olive or olive-brown broadly margined with buffy or pale fulvous.” Length of adult male (skins): 6.67 (169.4); wing 3.17 (80.5); tail 2.78 (70.6); bill .47 (11.9); tarsus 1.00 (25.4).Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; warm brown (nearly uniform) coloration of upperparts; heavy spotting of chest, etc. Absence of distinctive head markings will distinguish bird from local Song Sparrows, and robust form with conical beak from migrating Hermit Thrushes.Nesting.—As next. Does not breed in Washington.General Range.—“Coast district of southern Alaska (islands and coast of mainland from southern side of Cross Sound, Lynn Canal, etc., to north side of Dixon Entrance); in winter, south to northern California” (Ridgway).Range in Washington.—Common migrant and (possibly) winter resident west of Cascades.Authorities.—?Fringilla townsendiAudubon, Orn. Biog. V. 1839, 236, pl. 424, fig. 7 (Columbia River). Townsend, Narrative (1839), p. 345.Passerella townsendii, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, p. 489. C&S. Ra. Kk. B. E(H).Specimens.—(U. of W.) Prov. B. C.
A. O. U. No. 585 a (part).Passerella iliaca townsendi(Audubon).
[Description of P. i. annectens(Yakutat Fox Sparrow).—“Similar toP. i. insularisbut smaller (the bill especially) and coloration slightly browner” (Ridgw.).]
Description.—Adults: Similar toP. i. annectensbut coloration darker and richer (inclining to chestnut brown); spots on chest, etc., larger. “Above deep vandyke brown, duller (more sooty) on pileum, more reddish (inclining to burnt umber or dark chestnut brown) on upper tail-coverts and tail; sides of head deep sooty brown, the lores dotted, the auricular region finely streaked, with dull whitish; general color of underparts white, but everywhere spotted or streaked with deep chestnut brown or vandyke brown, the spots mostly of triangular (deltoid and cuneate) form, very heavy and more or less confluent on chest, smaller on throat and breast; sides and flanks almost uniform deep brown, the latter tinged with buffy or pale tawny, under tail-coverts deep olive or olive-brown broadly margined with buffy or pale fulvous.” Length of adult male (skins): 6.67 (169.4); wing 3.17 (80.5); tail 2.78 (70.6); bill .47 (11.9); tarsus 1.00 (25.4).
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; warm brown (nearly uniform) coloration of upperparts; heavy spotting of chest, etc. Absence of distinctive head markings will distinguish bird from local Song Sparrows, and robust form with conical beak from migrating Hermit Thrushes.
Nesting.—As next. Does not breed in Washington.
General Range.—“Coast district of southern Alaska (islands and coast of mainland from southern side of Cross Sound, Lynn Canal, etc., to north side of Dixon Entrance); in winter, south to northern California” (Ridgway).
Range in Washington.—Common migrant and (possibly) winter resident west of Cascades.
Authorities.—?Fringilla townsendiAudubon, Orn. Biog. V. 1839, 236, pl. 424, fig. 7 (Columbia River). Townsend, Narrative (1839), p. 345.Passerella townsendii, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, p. 489. C&S. Ra. Kk. B. E(H).
Specimens.—(U. of W.) Prov. B. C.
Time was when all the various Fox Sparrows of the Pacific Northwest were lumped together under the name Townsend’s Sparrow. A more critical age, however, under the leadership of Professor Ridgway, has resolved the bewildering array of shifting browns into five forms, or subspecies, assigning to each summer quarters according to the dullness or brightness of its coat. The end is not yet, of course, but the distinctions already made are sufficiently attenuated to cause the public to yawn. Suffice it to say, that this is one of the plastic species long resident on the PacificCoast; and that the varying conditions of rainfall and temperature, to which the birds have been subjected thruout the greater portion of the year, have given rise to five recognizable forms of the Townsend Sparrow.
Probably all forms are migratory, but the northernmost member of the group, the Shumagin Fox Sparrow (P. i. unalaschensis) has not been taken except in its summer home, the Alaska Peninsula, Unalaska, and the Shumagins. The remaining four are known to retire in winter as far south as California; but whether they preserve the 2, 3, 4, 5, arrangement in winter, or whether the order is roughly reversed (as is true in the case of certain other species), so that number 2 goes farthest south, while number 5, less anxious as to the severities of winter, migrates, as it were, half-heartedly, and becomes for a time the northernmost form, we cannot tell. However this may be, Townsend’s Sparrow proper (P. i. townsendi) appears to outnumber any of the remoter forms during at least the spring migrations; and because it is our next neighbor on the north, should be entitled to more consideration than plain heathen birds.
At no time does the absorptive power of our matchless Puget Sound cover appear to greater advantage than during the migration of the Fox Sparrows. However they may choose to move at night, by day they frequent the dense tangles of salal and salmon brush, or skulk about in cedar swamps. To search for them is useless, but if you are much out-of-doors the time will come, while you are footing it softly along some woodland path, that a demure brown bird will hop out in front of you and look unconcernedly for tid-bits before your very eyes. The bird is a little larger than a Song Sparrow, but you will require a second glance to note that the colors of the upperparts are smoothly blended, that the head lacks the vague stripiness ofMelospiza, and that the underparts are spotted instead of streaked. Or, it may be, that you chance upon him as he is busily scratching among the fallen alder leaves. Scratching is hardly the word tho, for the bird leaps forward and executes an extravagant double kick backward, landing invariably at the edge of the cleared space. Here, without a moment’s delay, he proceeds to glean busily, whereas you rather expected him to pause at the end of his stunt, like the acrobat, awaiting the conventional burst of applause. If you must needs pursue the path, he hops back into the thicket and you have seen, perhaps, your last Fox Sparrow for this year, altho his migrating kinsmen must number millions.
A. O. U. No. 585 a (part).Passerella iliaca fuliginosaRidgway.Description.—Adults: Upperparts, sides of head, neck, and lateral underparts nearly uniform dark brown (sepia brown—“sooty” not inappropriate), warming slightly upon exposed surfaces of wings and upon rump and outer edges of rectrices; below white save for under tail-coverts, which have clear buffy wash, everywhere save on middle belly heavily marked with large, chiefly triangular, spots of the color of back or darker—spotting heaviest on breast where nearly confluent. Bill black above shading on sides into yellow of lower mandible; feet pale ruddy brown or wine-color. Length (of a single fresh specimen) 7.45 (191.7); wing (av.) 3.21 (81.5); tail 2.91 (77); bill .48 (12.2); tarsus 1.02 (25.9).Recognition Marks.—Sparrow to Chewink size; uniform sooty brown coloration of head and upperparts; heavily spotted below with sepia or blackish; darker above and more heavily spotted below than any migrant form of theP. i. unalaschensisgroup.Nesting.—Nest: a bulky structure with a broad, flat brim, of mosses, grasses, twigs, woody fibers, weed-stalks, often heavily lined with fine dry grass of contrasting color and with an inner mat of fur, hair or feathers; placed at moderate heights in thickets or saplings; measures externally 6 inches across by 3 deep, internally 2⅛ across by 1⅝ deep.Eggs: 4, greenish blue, spotted, or spotted and clouded, with reddish brown. Av. size, .94 × .68 (23.8 × 17.3).Season: May-July; two broods.General Range.—Summer resident in coast region of British Columbia and northwestern Washington; in winter south along the coast to San Francisco.Range in Washington.—Breeding on the San Juan Islands and upon the northern and western shores of the Olympic Peninsula; not uncommon migrant on Puget Sound.Authorities.—(?) Baird, Rep. Pac., etc., 489 part; (?) Cooper and Suckley Rep. Pac., etc., 204 part; (?) Sclater Cat. Am. Birds, 1862, 119 part (Simiahmoo [sic]);Ridgway, Auk, XVI. Jan. 1899, 36 (Neah Bay). Kb. E.Specimens.—Prov. BN. E.
A. O. U. No. 585 a (part).Passerella iliaca fuliginosaRidgway.
Description.—Adults: Upperparts, sides of head, neck, and lateral underparts nearly uniform dark brown (sepia brown—“sooty” not inappropriate), warming slightly upon exposed surfaces of wings and upon rump and outer edges of rectrices; below white save for under tail-coverts, which have clear buffy wash, everywhere save on middle belly heavily marked with large, chiefly triangular, spots of the color of back or darker—spotting heaviest on breast where nearly confluent. Bill black above shading on sides into yellow of lower mandible; feet pale ruddy brown or wine-color. Length (of a single fresh specimen) 7.45 (191.7); wing (av.) 3.21 (81.5); tail 2.91 (77); bill .48 (12.2); tarsus 1.02 (25.9).
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow to Chewink size; uniform sooty brown coloration of head and upperparts; heavily spotted below with sepia or blackish; darker above and more heavily spotted below than any migrant form of theP. i. unalaschensisgroup.
Nesting.—Nest: a bulky structure with a broad, flat brim, of mosses, grasses, twigs, woody fibers, weed-stalks, often heavily lined with fine dry grass of contrasting color and with an inner mat of fur, hair or feathers; placed at moderate heights in thickets or saplings; measures externally 6 inches across by 3 deep, internally 2⅛ across by 1⅝ deep.Eggs: 4, greenish blue, spotted, or spotted and clouded, with reddish brown. Av. size, .94 × .68 (23.8 × 17.3).Season: May-July; two broods.
General Range.—Summer resident in coast region of British Columbia and northwestern Washington; in winter south along the coast to San Francisco.
Range in Washington.—Breeding on the San Juan Islands and upon the northern and western shores of the Olympic Peninsula; not uncommon migrant on Puget Sound.
Authorities.—(?) Baird, Rep. Pac., etc., 489 part; (?) Cooper and Suckley Rep. Pac., etc., 204 part; (?) Sclater Cat. Am. Birds, 1862, 119 part (Simiahmoo [sic]);Ridgway, Auk, XVI. Jan. 1899, 36 (Neah Bay). Kb. E.
Specimens.—Prov. BN. E.
The mystery of the Fox Sparrow clears a little as we move northward on Puget Sound, and may even resolve itself one day as we spend a lazy July in camp on one of the San Juan islands. We are puzzled, as the tent pegs are being driven, by certain sprightly songs bursting out now here, now there, from the copse. We labor under a sense of avian surveillance as we gather fuel from the beach, but the songs are too joyous and limpid to make precise connections with anything in previous experience. It is not till the cool of the evening, when we seek the spring, back in the depths of the thicket, that we come upon a fair birdmaiden slyly regaling herself upon aluscious salmon-berry, flushed to the wine-red of perfection, while three of her suitors peal invitations to separate bowers in the neighboring tangles. She flees guiltily on detection, but the secret is out; we know now where these shy wood nymphs keep themselves in summer.
The male bird is sometimes emboldened by the moment of song to venture into the tops of willows or alders, but even here he hugs the screen of leaves and is ready in a trice to dive into the more familiar element of bushes. Once under cover of the protecting salal, or among the crowding ferns, the Fox Sparrows are excelled by none in their ability to get about with a modicum of disturbance; and the longest journeys, such as are made necessary in the time of clamoring young, appear to be made by slipping and sliding thru the maze of intersecting stems. The song is varied and vivacious; but, save for the opening notes, is neither very strong nor very brilliant. The opening phrase, however,Pewit, heu, comes as a tiny bugle call into which is distilled the essence of all dank hollows, of all rustling leaves, of all murmuring tides, and of all free-blowing breezes. It is the authentic voice of the little wild.
From a Photograph Copyright, 1907, by W. L. Dawson. CARROLL ISLET—SOUTH EXPOSURE. WHERE THE FIRST NEST OF THE SOOTY FOX SPARROW WAS FOUND.From a Photograph Copyright, 1907, by W. L. Dawson.CARROLL ISLET—SOUTH EXPOSURE.WHERE THE FIRST NEST OF THE SOOTY FOX SPARROW WAS FOUND.
From a Photograph Copyright, 1907, by W. L. Dawson.CARROLL ISLET—SOUTH EXPOSURE.WHERE THE FIRST NEST OF THE SOOTY FOX SPARROW WAS FOUND.
On a July day a trio of Indian boys, Quillayutes, were showing the bird-man a round of belated nesters, while he was looking for opportunities to photograph eggs, and also recording Quillayutan bird names in passing. A Rusty Song Sparrow’s nest held only weanlings, mildly hideous, and the leader, a lad of ten, expressed regret that he could not show me the nest of another kind of Song Sparrow. With excess of Caucasian pride I assured him that there was only one species of Song Sparrow to be found locally, but my learned statements drew forth only puzzled and unconvicted glances. Some days later when I had taken a set of Sooty Fox Sparrow’s eggs from a neighboring islet, the boys clamored in triumph, “That’s it;those are the eggs ofTahbahlilchteh, the other Song Sparrow we told you about.” The boys were near enough right; the Fox Sparrow is for all the ordinary world like a Song Sparrow; and I venture that not a dozen white boys in Washington ever saw the bird itself, let alone distinguishing it by name.
Taken on Carroll Islet. Photo by the Author. NEST OF SOOTY FOX SPARROW IN FERN CLUMP. THE NEST ITSELF IS ALMOST INVISIBLE BECAUSE BURIED IN MOSS AND FERN LEAVES.Taken on Carroll Islet.Photo by the Author.NEST OF SOOTY FOX SPARROW IN FERN CLUMP.THE NEST ITSELF IS ALMOST INVISIBLE BECAUSE BURIED IN MOSS AND FERN LEAVES.
Taken on Carroll Islet.Photo by the Author.NEST OF SOOTY FOX SPARROW IN FERN CLUMP.THE NEST ITSELF IS ALMOST INVISIBLE BECAUSE BURIED IN MOSS AND FERN LEAVES.
The eggs referred to were found amid most romantic surroundings, on a sea-girt islet a mile or two out from the Pacific shore. The island is given over to sea-birds, and these nest upon its precipitous sides to the number of thousands; but the center of the rock is crowned with a grove of spruce trees, which overshadow a dense growth of salmon-berry bushes. In a clump of the latter at a height of six feet was placed a very bulky but unusually handsome nest, which held, in the really tiny cup which occupies the upper center of the structure, three eggs of a greenish blue color heavily spotted and marbled with warm browns. The nest measures externally eight and ten inches in width, internally two; in depth four inches outside and only one and a half inside. It is composed chiefly of green mosses set indead spruce twigs with a few twisted weed stalks; while the lining is of a light-colored, fine, dead grass, very loosely arranged, and a few breast-feathers of the Glaucous-winged Gull. A nest full of young Peregrine Falcons were conversing in screams with their doting parents in the spruce trees overhead, and terrorizing the island thereby; but the Sooty Fox Sparrows stepped forward modestly to claim ownership in the nest which “Science” unfortunately required. The date was July 21, 1906, and the eggs were nearly upon the point of hatching.
Thus, the north and west slopes of the Olympic Mountains, together with the islands of lower Puget Sound, appear to mark the southern breeding range of the coastal Fox Sparrows. This form has not been reported breeding upon the mainland east of Puget Sound, but it is difficult to see why it should not do so. It is rather the commonest form during the spring and fall migrations, and there is no evidence as yet that it tarries with us in winter.
A. O. U. No. 585 c.Passerella iliaca schistacea(Baird).Synonym.—Slate-colored Fox Sparrow.Description.—Adults: Upperparts slaty gray tinged with olivaceous, changing abruptly to russet brown on upper tail-coverts, and tail; wings brown brightening, more rusty, on edges of greater coverts and secondaries; some white fleckings below eye, and supraloral spot dull whitish; underparts white shaded with color of back on sides; the sides of throat, chest, and sides of breast heavily and distinctly marked with triangular spots of sepia; lower breast (and sometimes middle of throat) flecked, and sides and flanks striped, with the same shade; under tail-coverts grayish brown centrally edged broadly with buffy.Young birdsare tinged with brown above and are duller white below with less distinct markings. Length of adult male 7.00-7.50 (177.8-190.5); wing 3.15 (80); tail 3.15 (80); bill .47 (12); tarsus .92 (23.3).Recognition Marks.—Sparrow to Chewink size; slaty gray and brown coloration above with heavy spotting on breast distinctive;grayinstead of brown on back as compared with the five members of theunalaschensisgroup.Nesting.—Nest: a bulky affair of twigs, weed-stalks, grasses, etc., placed on ground or low in bushes of thicket.Eggs: 3-5, usually 4, greenish brown sharply spotted or (rarely) blotched with chestnut. Av. size .85 × .65 (21.6 × 16.5).Season: May-July; two broods.General Range.—Rocky Mountain district of United States and British Columbia west to and including the Cascade Mountains, the White Mountainsof southeastern California, and the mountains of northeastern California; south in winter to New Mexico, Arizona, etc.Range in Washington.—Summer resident in the timbered districts of the East-side and in the Cascade Mountains (west to Mt. Rainier).Authorities.—[“Slate-colored sparrow,” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 22].Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II., p. 435.
A. O. U. No. 585 c.Passerella iliaca schistacea(Baird).
Synonym.—Slate-colored Fox Sparrow.
Description.—Adults: Upperparts slaty gray tinged with olivaceous, changing abruptly to russet brown on upper tail-coverts, and tail; wings brown brightening, more rusty, on edges of greater coverts and secondaries; some white fleckings below eye, and supraloral spot dull whitish; underparts white shaded with color of back on sides; the sides of throat, chest, and sides of breast heavily and distinctly marked with triangular spots of sepia; lower breast (and sometimes middle of throat) flecked, and sides and flanks striped, with the same shade; under tail-coverts grayish brown centrally edged broadly with buffy.Young birdsare tinged with brown above and are duller white below with less distinct markings. Length of adult male 7.00-7.50 (177.8-190.5); wing 3.15 (80); tail 3.15 (80); bill .47 (12); tarsus .92 (23.3).
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow to Chewink size; slaty gray and brown coloration above with heavy spotting on breast distinctive;grayinstead of brown on back as compared with the five members of theunalaschensisgroup.
Nesting.—Nest: a bulky affair of twigs, weed-stalks, grasses, etc., placed on ground or low in bushes of thicket.Eggs: 3-5, usually 4, greenish brown sharply spotted or (rarely) blotched with chestnut. Av. size .85 × .65 (21.6 × 16.5).Season: May-July; two broods.
General Range.—Rocky Mountain district of United States and British Columbia west to and including the Cascade Mountains, the White Mountainsof southeastern California, and the mountains of northeastern California; south in winter to New Mexico, Arizona, etc.
Range in Washington.—Summer resident in the timbered districts of the East-side and in the Cascade Mountains (west to Mt. Rainier).
Authorities.—[“Slate-colored sparrow,” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 22].Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II., p. 435.
The residents of Cannon Hill, in Spokane, are to be congratulated, not alone for their wealth, for Nature is not curious as to bank accounts, but for the rare good taste which has been displayed in utilizing the largess of Nature. Instead of going in with axe and shovel and fire-brand, first to obliterate the distinctive features of Nature and then rear mocking platitudes in mortar and stone upon her pale ashes, they have accepted the glory of her grim lava bastions and the grace of her unhewn pines; nor have they even despised the tangles of wild shrubbery, those decent draperies without which both tree and cliff would be overstark. To be sure the landscape artist with consummate skill has said to the piny sentinel, “Stand here!” and to the copse, “Sit there!” but he has not forgotten withal the primeval rights of the feathered aborigines. As a resultthe birds approve. What higher meed could mortal ask? Or where is there a better criterion of taste? Taken all in all I doubt if there is a more delightful spot in Washington in which to study bird life, certainly not within municipal bounds, than Cannon Hill affords.
Here, for instance, is this wood sprite, the very genius of the unravished wild; no one would think of looking for him in a city, yet of an early morning as the bird-man was passing along Seventh Avenue, he was arrested by the crisp and hearty notes of a Slate-colored Sparrow, coming from a bush in an artistically unkempt corner of the adjoining yard. In the half light, nothing in the pose and appearance of this bird would have induced an ornithologist to bestow a second glance upon the evident Song Sparrow, had it not been for the sweet and powerful challenge which poured from his earnest beak.Ooree, rickit, loopiteer, it said, with varied cadence and minor change, which gave evidence of no mean ability. There is something so forthright and winsome about the song of this modest bird, that the listener promptly surrenders “at discretion,” and begins to ask eager questions of his dainty captor.
A few yards further on three of these Sparrows were seen feeding on a well-kept lawn, but ready to skurry at a breath to the shelter of bush-clumps, thoughtfully provided. And all this in the first week in June, the very height of nesting time! With this as an example, what need to speak of Hammond Flycatchers, Mountain Chickadees, Catbirds, Pine Siskins, Audubon Warblers, Shufeldt Juncoes, Cassin Finches, Pygmy Nuthatches, American Crossbills, Cassin Vireos, Louisiana Tanagers, Ruby-crownedKinglets, Olive-sided Flycatchers, Evening Grosbeaks, Violet-green Swallows, Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Bobwhites, and a host of commoner sorts, all residents of the same demesne? “Unto him that hath shall be given.” Unto these who have shown appreciation and consideration, has been given the friendship of the birds, and they deserve their good fortune.
On the 5th of June we visited a nest which had been located a few days before in a little aspen grove beyond Garden Springs. The nest was placed upon the ground at the base of a small tree, and it sat so high, without pretense of concealment, that it was plainly visible with all its contents two rods away.
The female was brooding, but upon our approach she slipped quietly off and left her three callow young to the tender mercies of the bird-man and his big glass eye, set at four feet, while she began searching for food upon the ground a yard or two away.
Taken in Rainier National Park. From a Photograph Copyright, 1908, by W. L. Dawson. WITH UNCLOUDED BROW. A HAUNT OF THE SLATE-COLORED SPARROW.Taken in Rainier National Park.From a Photograph Copyright, 1908, by W. L. Dawson.WITH UNCLOUDED BROW.A HAUNT OF THE SLATE-COLORED SPARROW.
Taken in Rainier National Park.From a Photograph Copyright, 1908, by W. L. Dawson.WITH UNCLOUDED BROW.A HAUNT OF THE SLATE-COLORED SPARROW.
The male bird appeared, once, upon a bush some twenty feet away, making no hostile demonstration but beaming rather a hearty confidence, as who should say, “Well, I see you are getting along nicely at home; that’s right, enjoy yourselves, and I’ll finish up this bit of hoeing before supper.”
The mother bird, meanwhile, was uttering no complaint of the strange presence, preferring instead to glean food industriously from under the carpet of green leaves. Soon she returned, hopping up daintily. Standing upon the elevated brim of her nest she carefully surveyed her brood without proffer of food, as tho merely to assure herself of their welfare. I “snapped” and she retreated, not hastily, as tho frightened, but quietly as matter of reasonable prudence. Again and again during the hour I had her under fire, she returned to her brood. Each time she retired before the mild roar of the curtain shutter, never hastily or nervously, but deliberately and demurely. Thrice she fed her brood, thrusting her beak, which bore no external signs of food, deep down into the upturned gullets of the three children. Thrice she attempted to brood her babes, and very handsome and very motherly she looked, with fluffed feathers and mildly inquisitive eye; but the necessary movement following an exposure sent her away for a season.
When absent she neither moped nor scolded, but discreetly set about scratching for food, always within a range of ten or fifteen feet of the nest. At such times she would look up trustfully and unabashed. Upon the return she never flew, and there was nothing to advise the waiting camerist of her approach, save the rustle of leaves as she came hop, hopping, until she stood upon the familiar brim.
The opportunities for picture-making were simply unlimited, save for the weakness of the leaf-diluted light. Seldom have I been stirred to such admiration as in the case of this gentle motherSchistacea. So demure, so even-tempered, and so kindly a bird-person, with such a preserving air of gentle breeding, I have not often seen. It was an hour to be long remembered.
A. O. U. No. 592.1.Oreospiza chlorura(Aud.).Synonyms.—Green-tailed Finch. Blanding’s Finch.Description.—Adults: Crown and occiput rich chestnut; forehead blackish gray with whitish loral spot on each side; remaining upperparts olive-gray tinged more or less with bright olive-green; wings and tail with brighter greenish edgings; bend of wing, axillaries and under coverts yellow; chin and throatwhite bordered by dusky submaxillary stripe; sides of head and neck and remaining underparts ashy gray, clearing to white on abdomen, tinged with buffy or brownish on sides, flanks and crissum. Bill blackish above, paler below; legs brown, toes darker; irides cinnamon.Young birdsare brown above tinged with greenish and streaked with dusky but with wings and tail much as in adult. Length of adult about 7.00 (177.8); wing 3.15 (80); tail 3.30 (84); bill .50 (12.7); tarsus .94 (24).Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; rufous crown, white throat; greenish coloration of upperparts.Nesting.—“Nest: in bush or on the ground.Eggs: .90 × .68 (22.8 × 17.2); pale greenish or grayish white, freckled all over with bright reddish brown, usually aggregating or wreathing at the larger end” (Coues).General Range.—“Mountain districts of western United States, from more eastern Rocky Mountain ranges to coast range of California; north to central Montana and Idaho and eastern Washington” (Ridgway). South in winter to Mexico and Lower California.Range in Washington.—Presumably summer resident in the Blue Mountains.Authorities.—[“Green-tailed towhee,” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 22].Ridgway, Birds of North and Middle America, Part I, 401. T(?).
A. O. U. No. 592.1.Oreospiza chlorura(Aud.).
Synonyms.—Green-tailed Finch. Blanding’s Finch.
Description.—Adults: Crown and occiput rich chestnut; forehead blackish gray with whitish loral spot on each side; remaining upperparts olive-gray tinged more or less with bright olive-green; wings and tail with brighter greenish edgings; bend of wing, axillaries and under coverts yellow; chin and throatwhite bordered by dusky submaxillary stripe; sides of head and neck and remaining underparts ashy gray, clearing to white on abdomen, tinged with buffy or brownish on sides, flanks and crissum. Bill blackish above, paler below; legs brown, toes darker; irides cinnamon.Young birdsare brown above tinged with greenish and streaked with dusky but with wings and tail much as in adult. Length of adult about 7.00 (177.8); wing 3.15 (80); tail 3.30 (84); bill .50 (12.7); tarsus .94 (24).
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; rufous crown, white throat; greenish coloration of upperparts.
Nesting.—“Nest: in bush or on the ground.Eggs: .90 × .68 (22.8 × 17.2); pale greenish or grayish white, freckled all over with bright reddish brown, usually aggregating or wreathing at the larger end” (Coues).
General Range.—“Mountain districts of western United States, from more eastern Rocky Mountain ranges to coast range of California; north to central Montana and Idaho and eastern Washington” (Ridgway). South in winter to Mexico and Lower California.
Range in Washington.—Presumably summer resident in the Blue Mountains.
Authorities.—[“Green-tailed towhee,” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 22].Ridgway, Birds of North and Middle America, Part I, 401. T(?).
Not having ourselves encountered this species we are not able to comment on Prof. Ridgway’s inclusion[21]of eastern Washington in the bird’s breeding range. The Green-tailed Towhee appears to be essentially a mountain-loving species, and if it occurs within our borders, will be nearly confined to the Blue Mountains of the southeastern corner.
Mr. Trippe, writing from Idaho Springs, Colorado, says of this bird[22]: “It arrives at Idaho early in May, and soon becomes abundant, remaining till the close of September or early part of October. It is a sprightly, active little bird with something wren-like in its movements and appearance. It is equally at home among the loose stones and rocks of a hill-side (where it hops about with all the agility of the Rock Wren), and the densest thickets of brambles and willows in the valleys, amidst which it loves to hide. It is rather shy, and prefers to keep at a good distance from any suspicious object; and if a cat or dog approaches its nest, makes a great scolding, like the Cat-bird, and calls all the neighbors to its assistance; but if a person walks by, it steals away very quietly and remains silent till the danger is passed. It has a variety of notes which it is fond of uttering; one sounds like the mew of a kitten, but thinner and more wiry; its song is very fine, quite different from the Towhee’s and vastly superior to it. It builds its nests in dense clumps of brambles, and raises two broods each season, the first being hatched about the middle of June.”
A. O. U. No. 588 a.Pipilo maculatus montanusSwarth.Synonyms.—Chewink. “Catbird.”Description.—Adult male: Head and neck all around, chest and upperparts black, glossy anteriorly, duller on back; elongated white spots on scapulars, on tips of middle and greater coverts and on outer web of exposed tertials; edge of wing white and succeeding primaries white on outer web; outermost pair of rectrices edged with white on outer web; the three outermost pairs terminally blotched with white on inner web and the fourth pair touched with same near tip; breast and belly white; sides, flanks and crissum light cinnamon rufous, bleaching on under tail-coverts to light tawny. Bill black; feet brownish; iris red.Adult female: Similar to male but duller; black of male replaced by slaty with an olivaceous cast. Length of adult males: 7.50-8.50 (190.5-215.9); wing 3.17 (86); tail 3.93 (100); bill .53 (13.5); tarsus 1.07 (27.7); hind claw .48 (12.2). Female a little less.Recognition Marks.—Standard of “Chewink” size; black, white and cinnamon-rufous unmistakable;heavilyspotted with white on scapulars and wing as compared withP. m. oregonus.Nesting.—Nest: on the ground in thicket or at base of small sapling, a bulky collection of bark-strips, pine needles, coarse dead grass, etc., carefully lined with fine dry grass; measures 5 inches in width and 3 in depth externally by 2½ wide and 1½ deep inside.Eggs: 3-5, usually 4, grayish white or pinkish white as to ground, heavily and uniformly dotted with light reddish brown. Av. size, .93 × .70 (23.6 × 17.8).Season: last week in April, last week in May and first week in June; two broods.General Range.—Breeding in Upper Sonoran and Transition zones from the Rocky Mountains to the Cascade-Sierras and in the Pacific coast district of central California, and from Lower California and Northern Mexico north into British Columbia; retiring from northern portion of range in winter.Range in Washington.—Common summer resident east of the Cascades, found in foothills and mountain valleys up to 3,000 feet; casually resident in winter.Authorities.—P. m. megalonyx,Brewster, B. N. O. C. VII. Oct. 1892, p. 227. D². Ss¹. Ss². J.Specimens.—(U. of W.) P¹. Prov. C.
A. O. U. No. 588 a.Pipilo maculatus montanusSwarth.
Synonyms.—Chewink. “Catbird.”
Description.—Adult male: Head and neck all around, chest and upperparts black, glossy anteriorly, duller on back; elongated white spots on scapulars, on tips of middle and greater coverts and on outer web of exposed tertials; edge of wing white and succeeding primaries white on outer web; outermost pair of rectrices edged with white on outer web; the three outermost pairs terminally blotched with white on inner web and the fourth pair touched with same near tip; breast and belly white; sides, flanks and crissum light cinnamon rufous, bleaching on under tail-coverts to light tawny. Bill black; feet brownish; iris red.Adult female: Similar to male but duller; black of male replaced by slaty with an olivaceous cast. Length of adult males: 7.50-8.50 (190.5-215.9); wing 3.17 (86); tail 3.93 (100); bill .53 (13.5); tarsus 1.07 (27.7); hind claw .48 (12.2). Female a little less.
Recognition Marks.—Standard of “Chewink” size; black, white and cinnamon-rufous unmistakable;heavilyspotted with white on scapulars and wing as compared withP. m. oregonus.
Nesting.—Nest: on the ground in thicket or at base of small sapling, a bulky collection of bark-strips, pine needles, coarse dead grass, etc., carefully lined with fine dry grass; measures 5 inches in width and 3 in depth externally by 2½ wide and 1½ deep inside.Eggs: 3-5, usually 4, grayish white or pinkish white as to ground, heavily and uniformly dotted with light reddish brown. Av. size, .93 × .70 (23.6 × 17.8).Season: last week in April, last week in May and first week in June; two broods.
General Range.—Breeding in Upper Sonoran and Transition zones from the Rocky Mountains to the Cascade-Sierras and in the Pacific coast district of central California, and from Lower California and Northern Mexico north into British Columbia; retiring from northern portion of range in winter.
Range in Washington.—Common summer resident east of the Cascades, found in foothills and mountain valleys up to 3,000 feet; casually resident in winter.
Authorities.—P. m. megalonyx,Brewster, B. N. O. C. VII. Oct. 1892, p. 227. D². Ss¹. Ss². J.
Specimens.—(U. of W.) P¹. Prov. C.
Altho of Mexican stock, our western Towhee does not differ greatly in appearance from the familiar bird (P. erythrophthalmus) of the East; and its habits so closely resemble that of the eastern bird as hardly to require special description. The Spurred Towhee is a lover of green, thickety hillsides and brushy draws, such cover, in short, as is lumped together underthe term “chaparral” further south. It is, therefore, narrowly confined to the vicinity of streams in the more open country, but it abounds along the foothills and follows up the deeper valleys of the Cascades nearly to the divide.