Part 12

General Range.—“The whole of Alaska, including (and breeding on) the Pribilof and Aleutian Islands, Unalaska, and the Shumagins; east to Fort Simpson, south in winter thru more western parts of North America to Nevada (Carson City), eastern Oregon, Colorado, western Kansas, etc.” (Ridgway).

Range in Washington.—Presumably of more or less regular occurrence in winter on the East-side. Casual west of the Cascades.

Authorities.—[“Lapland Longspur,” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885) 22.] Dawson, Auk, Vol. XXV. Oct. 1908, p. 483.

By all the rules this bird should be abundant in winter in the stubble fields of the Palouse country, if not upon the prairies of Pierce, Thurston, and Chehalis Counties. Bendire reported them from Camp Harney in eastern Oregon, and Brooks says they are common on Sumas Prairie, B. C.; but we have only one authentic record for this State, that of a straggler taken near Seattle in October, 1907. These Longspurs abound in Alaska during the nesting season, but it would appear that the mountain barriers habitually deflect their autumnal flight to the eastward, and that the few which reach us straggle down the coast.

Those who have seen Iowa prairies give up these birds by scores and hundreds every few rods, have been able to form some conception of their vast numbers, but it remained for the storm of March 13-14, 1904, to reveal the real order of magnitude of their abundance. An observer detailed by the Minnesota State Natural History Survey estimates that a million and a half of these “Lapland” Longspurs perished in and about the village of Worthington alone; and he found that this destruction, tho not elsewhere so intense, extended over an area of fifteen hundred square miles.

In spite of such buffetings of fortune, those birds which do reach Alaska bring a mighty cheer with them to the solitudes. As Nelson says: “When they arrive early in May the ground is still largely covered with snow with the exception of grassy spots along southern exposures and the more favorably situated portions of the tundra, and here may be found these birds in all the beauty of their elegant summer dress. The males, as if conscious of their handsome plumage, choose the tops of the only breaks in the monotonous level, which are small rounded knolls and tussocks. The male utters its song as it flies upward from one of these knolls and when it reaches the height of ten or fifteen yards, it extends the points of its wings upwards, forming a large V-shaped figure, and floats gently to the ground, uttering, as it slowly sinks, its liquid tones, which fall in tinkling succession upon the ear, and are perhaps the sweetest notes that one hears during the entire spring-time in these regions. It is an exquisite jingling melody, having much less power than that of the Bobolink, but with the same general character, and, tho shorter, it has even more melody than the song of that well known bird.”

No. 38. WESTERN LARK SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 552 a. Chondestes grammacus strigatus (Swains.).

Synonyms.—Quail-head. Western Lark Finch.

Description.—_Adult_: Head variegated, black, white, and chestnut; lateral head-stripes black in front, chestnut behind; auriculars chestnut, bounded by rictal and post-orbital black stripes; narrow loral, and broader submalar black stripes; malar, superciliary, and median stripes white, the two latter becoming buffy behind; upper parts buffish gray brown, clearest on sides of neck, streaked by blackish brown centers of feathers on middle back and scapulars, persisting as edging on the fuscous wings and tail; tail-feathers, except middle pair, broadly tipped with white; below white, purest on throat and belly, washed with grayish buff on sides and crissum, also obscurely across fore-breast, in which is situated a central black spot. Length 6.25 (158.8); wing 3.35 (85); tail 2.68 (68); bill .47 (12); tarsus .80 (20.3).

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; head variegated black, white, and chestnut; fan-shaped tail broadly tipped with white and conspicuous in flight (thus easily distinguished from the Western Vesper Sparrow with square tail and lateral white feathers).

Nesting.—_Nest_: of grasses, lined with finer grass, rootlets and occasionally horse-hair, on the ground or, rarely, in low bushes or trees. _Eggs_: 5, white, pinkish or bluish white, spotted and scrawled in zigzags and scrolls with dark browns or purplish blacks, chiefly at the larger end; notably rounded in shape. Av. size .82 × .65 (20.8 × 16.5). _Season_: May 15-June 5; one brood, rarely two.

General Range.—Western United States and plateau of Mexico; north to middle British Columbia, Manitoba, etc.; east to eastern border of Great Plains; west to Pacific Coast, including peninsula of lower California; south in winter to Guatemala.

Range in Washington.—Summer resident east of Cascades only, in Upper Sonoran and Arid Transition zones.

Migrations.—Wallula, May 6, 1907; Yakima Co., May 1, 1906; ibid, May 3, 1900; Chelan, May 19, 1896.

Authorities.—[“Western lark finch,” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T., 1884 (1885), 22.] Belding, Land Birds Pacific District (1890), p. 148 (Walla Walla, J. W. Williams, 1885). (T.) (C&S.) D¹. D². Ss¹. Ss². J.

Specimens.—(U. of W.) C. P.

As in the case of the Sandwich and Savanna Sparrows, the curiously striped coloration of this bird’s head is evidently intended to facilitate concealment. The bird peering out of a weed clump is almost invisible. And yet, as I was once passing along a sage-clad hillside in Chelan county with an observing young rancher, my companion halted with a cry. He had caught the gleam of a Lark Sparrow’s eye as she sat brooding under a perfect mop of dead broom-sage. The camera was brought into requisition, and the lens pointed downward. The camera-cloth bellied and flapped in the breeze, yellow tripod legs waved belligerently, and altogether there was much noise of photographic commerce, but the little mother clung to her eggs. The stupid glass eve of the machine, spite of all coaxing, saw nothing but twigs, and we were obliged to forego a picture of the sitting bird. To get the accompanying picture of eggs, I was obliged to hack away the protecting brush, having first slipped in a handkerchief to protect the nest and contents from showering debris.

The desert harbors many choice spirits, but none (save the incomparable Sage Thrasher) more joyous or more talented than the Lark Sparrow. Whether it is running nimbly along the ground or leaping into the air to catch a risen grasshopper, one feels instinctively that here is a dainty breed. The bird loves to trip ahead coquettishly along a dusty road, only to yield place at last to your insistent steed with an air of gentle reproach. As it flits away you catch a glimpse of the rounded tail, held half open, with its terminal rim of white, and you know you have met the aristocrat of the sage.

Lark Sparrows are somewhat irregular in distribution, but their range corresponds roughly with the northern extension of the Upper Sonoran zone, with overflow into the adjacent Arid Transition. Altho prairie birds, they are fond of scattered trees, fences, telegraph poles, or anything which will afford sufficient elevation for the sweet sacrament of song.

This bird, more frequently than others, is found singing in the middle of the very hottest days in summer, and at such times his tremulous notes come to the ear like the gurgling of sweet waters. But Ridgway’s description has not been surpassed:[15] “This song is composed of a series of chants, each syllable rich, loud, and clear, interspersed with emotional trills. At the beginning the song reminds one somewhat of that of the Indigo Bird (_Passerina cyanea_), but the notes are louder and more metallic, and their delivery more vigorous. Tho seemingly hurried, it is one continued gush of sprightly music; now gay, now melodious, and then tender beyond description,—the very expression of emotion. At intervals the singer falters, as if exhausted by exertion, and his voice becomes scarcely audible; but suddenly reviving in his joy, it is resumed in all its vigor, until he appears to be really overcome by the effort.”

These gentle birds are evidently profiting somewhat by the human occupation of the soil, and adapt themselves readily to changed conditions. They are reported as breeding in the valley of the Willamette in Oregon, but we have no records of their occurrence in Washington west of the Cascades.

No. 39. WESTERN VESPER SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 540a. Poœcetes gramineus confinis Baird.

Synonyms.—Western Grass Finch. Bay-winged Bunting.

Description.—_Adults_: General tone of upperparts slaty or grayish brown on the edges of the feathers, modified by the dusky centers, and warmed by delicate traces of rufous, bend of wing bay, concealing dusky centers; wings and tail fuscous with pale tawny or whitish edgings,—outer tail-feathers principally or entirely white, the next two pairs white, or not, in varying amount; below sordid white, sharply streaked on breast, flanks, and sides with dusky brown; the chin and throat with small arrow marks of the same color and bounded by chains of streaks; auriculars clear hair-brown, with buffy or lighter center; usually a buffy suffusion on streaked area of breast and sides. Length of adult male: 5.75-6.25 (146.1-158.8); wing 3.29 (83.6); tail 2.59 (65.8); bill .44 (11.2); tarsus .85 (21.6). Female a little smaller.

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; general streaked appearance; white lateral tail-feathers conspicuous in flight; frequents fields and the open sage.

Nesting.—_Nest_: on ground, usually in depression, neatly lined with grasses, rootlets, and horse-hair. _Eggs_: 4 or 5, pinkish-, grayish-, or bluish-white, speckled, spotted and occasionally scrawled with reddish-brown. Av. size, .82 × .60 (20.8 × 15.2). _Season_: first week in May, second week in June; two broods.

General Range.—Western United States (except Pacific coast district) and Canada north to Saskatchewan east to Manitoba, the Dakotas (midway), western Nebraska, etc.; breeding from the highlands of Arizona and New Mexico northward; in winter from southern California east to Texas and south to southern Mexico.

Range in Washington.—East-side, sparingly distributed in all open situations.

Migrations.—_Spring_: Yakima Co., March 15, 1900; Chelan Co., March 31, 1896.

Authorities.—Dawson, Auk, XIV. April 1897, p. 178. Sr. D². Ss¹. Ss². J.

Specimens.—P. Prov. C.

A sober garb cannot conceal the quality of the wearer, even tho Quaker gray be made to cover alike saint and sinner. Plainness of dress, therefore, is a fault to be readily forgiven, even in a bird, if it be accompanied by a voice of sweet sincerity and a manner of self-forgetfulness. In a family where a modest appearance is no reproach, but a warrant to health and long life, the Vesper Sparrow is pre-eminent for modesty. You are not aware of his presence until he disengages himself from the engulfing grays and browns of the stalk-strewn ground or dusty roadside, and mounts a fence-post to rhyme the coming or the parting day.

The arrival of Vesper Sparrow, late in March, may mark the supreme effort of that particular warm wave, but you are quite content to await the further travail of the season while you get acquainted with this amiable newcomer. Under the compulsion of the sun the bleary fields have been trying to muster a decent green to hide the ugliness of winter’s devastation. But wherefore? The air is lonely and the sage untenanted. The Meadowlarks, to be sure, have been romping about for several weeks and getting bolder every day; but they are roisterous fellows, drunk with air and mad with sunshine. The winter-sharpened ears wait hungrily for the poet of common day. The morning he comes a low sweet murmur of praise is heard on every side. You know it will ascend unceasingly thenceforth, and spring is different.

Vesper Sparrow is the typical ground bird. He eats, runs, sleeps, and rears his family upon the ground; but to sing—ah, that is different!—nothing less than the tip of the highest sage-bush will do for that; a telegraph pole or wire is better; and a lone tree in a pasture is not to be despised for this one purpose. The males gather in spring to engage in decorous concerts of rivalry. The song consists of a variety of simple, pleasing notes, each uttered two or three times, and all strung together to the number of four or five. The characteristic introduction is a mellow whistled _he-ho_, a little softer in tone than the succeeding notes. The song of the western bird has noticeably greater variety than that of the eastern. Not only is it less stereotyped in the matter of pitch and duration, but in quality and cadence it sometimes shows surprising differences. One heard in Chelan County would have passed for Brewer’s on a frolic, except for the preliminary “_hee-ho’s_”: _Heéoo heéoo heéoo ^buzziwuzziwuzzi wuzziwuzziwuzzi weechee weechee_. And indeed it would not be surprising if he had learned from _Spizella breweri_, who is a constant neighbor and a safe guide in matters of sage lore. The scolding note, a thrasher-like kissing sound, _tsook_, will sometimes interrupt a song if the strange listener gets too close. Early morning and late evening are the regular song periods; but the conscientious and indefatigable singer is more apt than most to interrupt the noontide stillness also.

Since this species is a bird of open country and uplands, it cares little for the vicinity of water; but it loves the dust of country roads as dearly as an old hen, and the daily dust-bath is a familiar sight to every traveler. While seeking its food of weed-seeds and insects, it runs busily about upon the ground, skulking and running oftener than flitting for safety. Altho not especially timid it seems to take a sort of professional pride in being able to slip about among the weed stems unseen.

It is, of course, at nesting time that the sneak-ability of the bird is most severely tested. The nest, a simple affair of coiled grasses, is usually sunk, or chambered in the ground, so that its brim comes flush with the surface. For the rest, the brooding bird seldom seeks any other protection than that of “luck,” and her own ability to elude observation when obliged to quit the nest. Her behavior at this time depends largely upon the amount of disturbance to which she is subjected. At first approach of danger she is inclined to stick to her post till the last possible moment, and then she falls lame as she flutters off. But if often frightened, she shrewdly learns to rise at a considerable distance.

Two and sometimes three broods are raised in a season, the first in late April, the second in late June or early July. Pastures and fallow grounds are favorite spots for home building, but I have frequently come upon the nests in the open sage, and here oftenest upon hillsides or tops of low ridges.

Altho not averse to the wilderness, there is reason to believe that this bird profits by the advent of civilization, and that its numbers are slowly increasing.

No. 40. OREGON VESPER SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 540 b. Poœcetes gramineus affinis Miller.

Synonyms.—Pacific Vesper Sparrow. Miller’s Grass Finch.

Description.—Similar to _P. g. confinis_ but smaller and coloration darker, browner above, more distinctly buffy below. Length of adult male about 5.75 (146); wing 3.04 (77.2); tail 2.28 (57.9); bill .43 (10.9); tarsus .81 (20.6). Female a little smaller.

Recognition Marks.—As in preceding, less liable to confusion because of absence of Brewer Sparrow, Western Lark Sparrow, etc., from range.

Nesting.—_Nest_: on ploughed ground or under shelter of fern-stalk, fallen branch, or the like; of grasses lined with hair; measures externally 3 inches across by 2 in depth, inside 2¼ across by 1¼ in depth. _Eggs_: 3 or 4, size and color as in preceding. _Season_: May; one brood, rarely two.

General Range.—Pacific coast district from northern California north to British Columbia (including Vancouver Island); south in winter thru southern California to Cape St. Lucas.

Range in Washington.—Of local occurrence on prairies and in cultivated valleys west of the Cascades—not common.

Migrations.—_Spring_: Tacoma April 9, 1906; April 13, 1907.

Authorities.—_Poocætes gramineus_ Ba[i]rd, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, p. 447 (part). (T). C&S. Ra. B.

Specimens.—(U. of W.) P. Prov. B. E.

The appearance of a Vesper Sparrow where trees are the rule is something of an anomaly. Nevertheless, this plains-loving bird seems to do very well in the prairie region south of Tacoma; and it has been here at least long enough to begin to assume the darker garb which characterizes old residents of the Sound region.

The bird is becoming fairly common wherever conditions in the large are suitable for it. I found it in numbers at Dungeness in the spring of 1906; and the agricultural lands of the Skagit are being accepted by this gentle songster as tho duly made and provided.

Mr. Bowles finds that eggs may not be looked for in the vicinity of Tacoma before the first week in May, and they are not certainly found before the middle of that month. Open prairie is most frequently selected for a site, and its close-cropped mossy surface often requires considerable ingenuity of concealment on the bird’s part. Ploughed ground, where undisturbed, is eagerly utilized. At other times a shallow cup is scraped at the base of a small fern, or the protection of a fallen limb is sought.

The eggs, from three to five in number, are perhaps the most handsomely, certainly the most quaintly marked of any in the sparrow family. The ground color is grayish white; and this, in addition to sundry frecklings and cloudings of lavender, is spotted, blotched, and scrawled, with old chestnut.

The female sits closely and sometimes will not leave the nest until removed. She seldom flies at that, but steps off and trips along the ground for some distance. Then she walks about uneasily or pretends to feed, venturing little expression of concern. Curiously, her liege lord never appears, either, in defense of his home, but after the young are hatched he does his fair share in feeding them.

No. 41. SANDWICH SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 542. Passerculus sandwichensis (Gmelin).

Synonym.—Larger Savanna Sparrow.

Description.—_Adults_: General tone of upper plumage grayish brown—the feathers blackish centrally with much edging of grayish-brown (sometimes bay), flaxen and whitish; a mesial crown-stripe dull buffy, or tinged anteriorly with yellowish; lateral stripes with grayish brown edging reduced; a broad superciliary stripe yellow, clearest over lore, paling posteriorly; cheeks buffy with some mingling and outcropping of dusky; underparts whitish, clearest on throat, washed with buffy on sides, heavily and sharply streaked on sides of throat, breast, sides, flanks and thighs with dusky; streaks nearly confluent on sides of throat, thus defining submalar area of whitish; streaks darkest and wedge-shaped on breast, more diffused and edged with buffy posteriorly; under tail-coverts usually _but not always_ with concealed wedge-shaped streaks of dusky; bill dusky or dull horn-color above, lighter below; feet palest; iris dark brown. _Fall specimens_ are brighter; the yellow, no longer prominent in superciliary stripe, is diffused over plumage of entire head and, occasionally, down sides; the bend of the wing is pale yellow (or not); the sides are more strongly suffused with buffy which usually extends across breast. Length about 5.75 (146); wing 2.99 (76); tail 2.00 (51); bill .47 (12); tarsus .88 (22.5).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size (but much more robust in appearance than a Warbler); general streaky appearance; the striation of the head, viewed from before, radiates in twelve alternating areas of black and white (or yellow); larger and lighter than the (rare) Savanna Sparrow (_P. s. savanna_); larger. darker and browner than the common Western Savanna Sparrow (_P. s. alaudinus_).

Nesting.—Not yet reported breeding in Washington. _Nest_ and _eggs_ as in _P. s. alaudinus_.

General Range.—“Unalaska Island (also Shumagin islands and lower portion of Alaska peninsula?) in summer; in winter, eastward and southward along the coast to British Columbia, more rarely to Northern California” (Ridgway). Also breeds extensively in western British Columbia and on Vancouver Island (_Auct._ Fannin, Kermode, Dawson).

Range in Washington.—Spring and fall migrant on both sides of the Cascades (sparingly on East-side); (presumably) resident in winter west of the range; possibly summer resident in northwestern portion of State.

Migrations.—_Spring_: April (West-side); South Park April 24, 25, 29, 1894; May (East-side); Yakima Co. May 8, 10, 1894; _Fall_: September.

Authorities.—_Passerculus sandwichensis_ Baird, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, p. 445. C&S. Rh. Kb.

Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. C.

The interrelations and distributions of the _Passerculus sandwichensis_ group are not at all clear as yet, but the migrant birds of spring and middle fall are usually of this form, and hail from or are bound for the coast of British Columbia and Alaska. At Blaine I have found them skulking about the fish-trap timbers of Semiahmoo spit, during the last week in September; or hiding in the rank grass which lines the little waterways draining into Campbell Creek. At such times they keep cover until one is almost upon them, and then break out with a frightened and protesting _tss_, only to seek shelter again a dozen feet away.

No. 42. SAVANNA SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 542 a. Passerculus sandwichensis savanna (Wilson).

Synonyms.—Savannah Sparrow. Meadow Sparrow. Ground Sparrow.

Description.—_Adult_: Similar to _P. sandwichensis_ but decidedly smaller and darker (usually browner as well), with bill both relatively and absolutely smaller, and with less or less conspicuous yellow in superciliary stripe. Length about 5.60 (142.2) wing 2.68 (68); tail 1.90 (48.2); bill .41 (10.4); tarsus .82 (20.8).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; 12-radiant pattern of head; general streakiness of upperparts; sharply streaked on breast and sides; darker.

Nesting.—Has not been discovered breeding in Washington but probably does so. _Nest_ and _Eggs_ as next.

General Range.—Eastern North America breeding from the northern United States to Labrador and the Hudson Bay country; casual(?) in the Western United States.

Range in Washington.—Imperfectly made out; many birds resident on West-side believed to be of this form.

Authorities.—Bowles and Dawson, Auk, Vol. XXV. Oct. 1908, p. 483.

Specimens.—Bowles, Tacoma, April 28, 1907 (4).