Part 13

Some specimens we get on Puget Sound are no larger than typical _Western_ Savanna, but are more strongly and brightly colored—handsome enough to be _sandwichensis_ proper. Are these _re_saturated forms the bleached _alaudinus_, so long resident in the wet country as to be now reassuming the discarded tints of old? Are they, rather, intergrades between _P. s. sandwichensis_ and _P. s. alaudinus_, theoretically resident on the lower Sound and in B. C.? Or are they casual overflows of true _savanna_, ignorant of our western metes and bounds? I do not know. Tweedledum or tweedledee? Here is a fine problem for the man with a gun, to whom a new subspecies is more than the lives of a thousand innocents. But I disclaim all responsibility in the matter.

No. 43. WESTERN SAVANNA SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 542b. Passerculus sandwichensis alaudinus (Bonap.).

Synonym.—Gray Savannah Sparrow.

Description.—Similar to _P. s. savanna_ but decidedly paler and grayer; less bay or none in edging of feathers of upperparts; yellow of superciliary stripe usually paler, sometimes nearly white; bill longer and relatively weaker. Other dimensions about as in _P. s. savanna_.

Recognition Marks.—As in preceding—_paler_.

Nesting.—_Nest_: in grassy meadow, of dried grasses settled deeply into dead grass or, rarely, into ground. _Eggs_: 4 or 5, grayish white to light bluish green, profusely dotted or spotted and blotched with varying shades of brown and slate, sometimes so heavily as to conceal the ground color. Av. size, .75 × .55 (19 × 13.97). _Season_: third week in May; one brood.

General Range.—Western North America from the eastern border of the Great Plains breeding from the plateau of Mexico to northwestern Alaska; in winter south to Lower California and Guatemala.

Range in Washington.—Both sides of the Cascades in low-lying meadows. Perhaps sparingly resident in winter on West-side.

Migrations.—_Spring_: About April 1st; Bremerton March 23, 1906.

Authorities.—_Passerculus alaudinus_ Bonap. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, 447. (T). C&S. L¹. Rh. Ra. Kk. J. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B.

Not every bird can be a beauty any more than every soldier can be a colonel; and when we consider that ten times as many shot-guns are in commission in time of peace as rifles in time of war, we cannot blame a bird for rejoicing in the virtue of humility, envying neither the epaulets of General Blackbird nor even the pale chevrons of Sergeant Siskin. A Savanna Sparrow, especially the washed-out western variety, is a mere detached bit of brown earth done up in dried grasses; a feathered commonplace which the landscape will swallow up the instant you take eyes off it. To be sure, if you can get it quite alone and _very_ near, you see enough to admire in the twelve-radiating pattern of the head, and you may even perceive a wan tint of yellow in the superciliary region; but let the birdling drop upon the ground and sit motionless amidst the grass, or in a criss-cross litter of weed-stalks, and sooner far will you catch the gleam of the needle in the haystack.

Savannas are birds of the meadows, whether fresh or salt, and wherever well-watered grasses and weeds abound, there they may be looked for. During migration, indeed, they may appear in most unexpected places. I saw one last year, at Bremerton, which haunted the vicinity of a tiny cemented pond in the center of a well-kept lawn. This bird hopped about coyly, peering behind blades of grass, and affecting a dainty fright at the sight of water, very much as a Chipping Sparrow might have done. In their nesting habits these little fellows approach more closely to colonizing than any other members of the Sparrow family. Large tracts of land, apparently suitable, are left untenanted; while, in a near-by field of a few acres, half a dozen pairs may be found nesting. More recently the birds have accepted the shelter of irrigated tracts upon the East-side, and their numbers would seem almost certainly to be upon the increase.

To ascertain the presence of these birds, the ear-test is best, when once the song is mastered. The latter consists of a series of lisping and buzzing notes, fine only in the sense of being small, and quite unmusical, _tsut, tsut, tsu wzzzzztsubut_. The sound instantly recalls the eastern Grasshopper Sparrow (_Coturniculus savannarum passerinus_), who is an own cousin; but the preliminary and closing flourishes are a good deal longer than those of the related species, and the buzzing strain shorter.

Love-making goes by example as well as by season, so that when the choral fever is on they are all at it. The males will sing from the ground rather than keep silence, altho they prefer a weed-top, a fence post, or even a convenient tree. The female listens patiently near by, or if she tries to slip away for a bit of food, the jealous lover recalls her to duty by an ardent chase.

The nest is settled snugly in the dead grasses of last year’s ungathered crop, and is thus both concealed from above and upborne from below, and is itself carefully done in fine dead grasses.

The sitting bird does not often permit a close approach, but rises from the nest at not less than thirty feet. The precise spot is, therefore, very difficult to locate. If discovered the bird will potter about with fine affection of listlessness, and seems to consider that she has done her full duty in not showing the eggs.

No. 44. DESERT SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 573 a. Amphispiza bilineata deserticola Ridgw.

Description.—_Adults_: Above brownish gray, browner on middle of back and on wings; a conspicuous white superciliary stripe bounded narrowly by black above and separated from white malar stripe (not reaching base of bill) by gray on sides of head; lores, anterior portion of malar region, chin, throat and chest centrally black, the last named with convex posterior outline; remaining underparts white tinged with grayish on sides and flanks; tail blackish, the outer web of outermost rectrix chiefly white, the inner web with white spot on tip, second rectrix (sometimes third or even fourth) tipped with white on inner web. Bill dusky; feet and legs brownish black. _Young_ birds like adults but without black pattern of head markings; chin and throat white or flecked with grayish; breast streaked with same and back faintly streaked with dusky; some buffy edging on wing. Length of adults about 5.35 (135.9); wing 2.55 (65); tail 2.48 (63); bill .40 (10); tarsus .75 (19).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; grayish coloration; strong white superciliary; _black_ throat distinctive.

Nesting.—Not yet reported from Washington. “_Nest_ in bushes, slight and frail, close to the ground; _eggs_ 2-5, 0.72 × 0.58 (18.3 × 14.7), white with a pale greenish or bluish tinge, unmarked; laid in May, June and later” (Coues).

General Range.—Arid districts of southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico west from western Texas to California north probably to southern Idaho and Washington; south, in winter to Chihuahua, Sonora and Lower California.

Range in Washington.—Probably summer resident in Upper Sonoran and Arid Transition life-zones; believed to be recently invading State from south.

Authority.—Dawson, Auk, Vol. XXV. Oct. 1908, p. 483.

If one happens to be fairly well acquainted with the licensed musicians of the sage, the presence of a strange voice in the morning chorus is as noticeable as a scarlet golf jacket at church. The morning light was gilding the cool gray of a sage-covered hillside in Douglas County, on the 31st day of May, 1908, and the bird-man was mechanically checking off the members of the desert choir, Brewer Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow and the rest, as they reported for duty, one by one, when suddenly a fresh voice of inquiry, _Blew chee tee tee_, burst from the sage at a stone’s cast. The binoculars were instantly levelled and their use alternated rapidly with that of note-book and pencil as the leading features of the stranger’s dress were seized upon in order of saliency: Black chin and throat with rounded extension on chest outlined against whitish of underparts and separated from grayish dusky of cheeks by white malar stripe; lores, apparently including eye, black; brilliant white superciliary stripe; crown and back warm light brown.

The newcomer was a male Desert Sparrow and the interest aroused by his appearance was considerably heightened when it was recalled that he was venturing some five hundred miles north of his furthest previously recorded range. This bird, probably the same individual, was seen and heard on several occasions subsequent thruout a stretch of half a mile bordering on Brook Lake. Once a female was glimpsed in company with her liege lord, flitting coquettishly from bush to bush; but the most diligent search failed to discover a nest, if such there was. Nesting was most certainly on the gallant’s mind for he sang at faithful intervals. The notes of his brief but musical offering had something of the gushing and tinkling quality of a Lark Sparrow’s. A variant form, _whew, whew, whiterer_, began nicely but degenerated in the last member into the metallic clicking of Towhee.

We have here, in all probability, another and a very conspicuous example of that northward trend of species which we shall have frequent occasion to remark. The passion of the North Pole quest is not merely a human weakness; it is a deep-rooted instinct which we only share with the birds. There was once a near-Eden yonder, a Pliocene paradise, from which the cruel ice evicted us—birds and men—long, long ago. We go now to reclaim our own.

No. 45. SAGE SPARROW.

A. O. U. No. 574.1. Amphispiza nevadensis (Ridgw.).

Synonyms.—Artemisia Sparrow. Nevada Sage Sparrow.

Description.—_Adults_: Upperparts (including auriculars and sides of neck) ashy gray to ashy brown, clearer and grayer anteriorly, browner posteriorly; pileum, back and scapulars sharply and narrowly streaked with black; wings and tail dull black with light brownish or pale grayish edging; the rectrices marked with white much as in preceding species; a supraloral spot, an orbital ring and (usually) a short median line on forehead white; sides of head slaty gray; lores dusky; underparts white, clearest on throat where bounded and set off from white of malar area by interrupted chain of dusky streaks, occasionally with dusky spot on center of breast, marked on sides and flanks with buffy and streaked with dusky; edge of wing pale yellow or yellowish white. Bill blackish above, lighter below; legs dark brown, toes darker; iris brown. _Young_: “Pileum, hindneck, chest and sides, as well as back, streaked with dusky; otherwise essentially as in adults” (Ridgway). Underparts save on throat sometimes tinged with yellowish or buffy. Length of adult male about 6.00 (152.4); wing 3.11 (79); tail 2.95 (75); bill .39 (10); tarsus .84 (21.5). Female a little smaller.

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size (barely); ashy gray plumage; _white_ throat defined by dusky streaks.

Nesting.—_Nest_: of twigs, sage bark, and “hemp” warmly lined with wool, rabbit-fur, cow-hair or feathers, placed low in crotch of sage bush. _Eggs_: 3-5, usually 4, brownish- or greenish-gray as to ground, dotted, spotted or clouded, rarely scrawled, with chestnut or sepia and with some purplish shell markings. Av. size .80 × .60 (20.3 × 15.2). _Season_: April, June; two broods.

General Range.—Great Basin region of the Western United States, west to eastern base of Sierra Nevada, east to eastern base of Rockies, north (at least) to northern Washington; south, in winter, into southern Arizona, etc.

Range in Washington.—Upper Sonoran and Arid Transition life zones in eastern Washington north at least to the Grand Couleé; summer resident.

Authorities.—[“Sagebrush Sparrow” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 22.] _Amphispiza belli nevadensis_, Dawson, Wilson Bulletin, No. 39, June, 1902, p. 65. Ss¹. Ss².

Specimens.—U. of W. P.

Thank God for the sage-brush! It is not merely that it clothes the desert and makes its wastes less arid. No one needs to apologize for the unclad open, or to shun it as tho it were an unclean thing. Only little souls do this,—those who, being used to small spaces, miss the support of crowding elbows, and are frightened into peevish complaint when asked to stand alone. To the manly spirit there is exultation in mere space. The ground were enough, the mere Expanse, with the ever-matching blue of the hopeful sky. But when to this is added the homely verdure of the untilled ground, the cup of joy is filled. One snatches at the sage as tho it were the symbol of all the wild openness, and buries his nostrils in its pungent branches to compass at a whiff this realm of unpent gladness. Prosy? Monotonous? Faugh! Back to the city with you! You are not fit for the wilderness unless you love its very wormwood.

The sage has interest or not, to be sure, according to the level from which it is viewed. Regarded from the supercilious level of the man-on-horseback, it is a mere hindrance to the pursuit of the erring steer. The man a-foot has some dim perception of its beauties, but if his errand is a long one he, too, wearies of his devious course. Those who are best of all fitted to appreciate its infinite variety of gnarled branch and velvet leaf, and to revel in its small mysteries, are simple folk,—rabbits, lizards, and a few birds who have chosen it for their life portion. Of these, some look up to it as to the trees of an ancient forest and are lost in its mazes; but of those who know it from the ground up, none is more loyal than the Sage Sparrow. Whether he gathers a breakfast, strewn upon the ground, among the red, white, and blue, of storkbill, chickweed, and fairy-mint, or whether he explores the crevices of the twisted sage itself for its store of shrinking beetles, his soul is filled with a vast content.

Here in the springtime he soon gets full enough for utterance, and mounts the topmost sprig of a sage bush to voice his thanks. In general character the song is a sort of subdued musical croaking, mellow and rich at close quarters, but with little carrying power. The bird throws his head well back in singing, and the tail is carried more nearly horizontal than is the case with most Sparrows. A song from the Yakima country ran: _Heo, chip’peway, chip′peway, chip′peway_, but a common type heard on the banks of the Columbia in Walla Walla County, and repeated upon the northern limit of the bird’s range in Douglas County, is _Tup, tup, to weely, chup, tup_. A more pretentious ditty, occupying two seconds in delivery, runs _Hooriedoppety, weeter wee, doodlety pootat′er_,—an ecstacy song, wherein the little singer seems to be intoxicated with the aroma of his favorite sage.

One may search a long time in the neighborhood of the singer—who, by the way, closes the concert abruptly when he realizes that he is likely to give his secret away—before finding the humble domicile a foot or two up in a sage bush. A nest which contained five eggs was composed externally of sage twigs set into a concealed crotch of the bush, but the bulk of it consisted of weed-bark and “hemp” of a quite uniform quality; while the lining contained tufts of wool, rabbit-fur, cow-hair, feathers, and a few coiled horse-hairs. The feathers were procured at some distant ranch, and their soft tips were gracefully upturned to further the concealment of the eggs, already well protected by their grayish green tints.

Another nest, sighted some forty paces away, contained one egg, and we had high hopes of being able to secure photographs upon our return with the camera. But a few rods further we came upon a crew of sneaking Magpies, scouring the sage with a dozen beady eyes, and passing sneering or vulgarly jocose remarks upon what they found. When we returned, therefore, a day or two later, we were not surprised to learn that the feathered marauders had preferred egg-in-the-bill to souvenir photographs.

No. 46. SLATE-COLORED JUNCO.

A. O. U. No. 567. Junco hyemalis (Linn.).

Synonyms.—Snow-bird. Eastern Snow-bird.

Description.—_Adult male in summer_: Upperparts, throat and breast slate-color deepening to slaty-black on pileum, the bluish tinge lacking on wings and tail; below, abruptly white from the breast, the flanks ashy slate; the two outer pairs of tail-feathers entirely, and the third pair principally white; bill flesh-color, usually tipped with black. _Adult female_: Similar to male; throat and breast paler; a brownish wash over the upperparts, deepest on nape and upper back; wings brownish fuscous rather than black, and sides tawny-washed. _Adult male in winter_, becoming like female, but still distinguishable. Length 6.00-6.50 (152.4-165.1); wing 3.07 (78); tail 2.80 (71.1); bill .49 (12.5). Female averages slightly smaller than male.

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; white lateral tail-feathers; hood _slaty_ as compared with _J. oreganus_ and _J. o. shufeldti_.

Nesting.—Not known to breed in Washington. _Nest_ and _eggs_ as next.

General Range.—North America, chiefly east of the Rocky Mountains, breeding in the hilly portions of the Northern States (east of the Rockies) north to the Arctic Coast and west to the valleys of the Yukon and Kowak Rivers, Alaska; south in winter as far as the Gulf States and sparingly over the Western States to California, Arizona, etc.

Range in Washington.—Casual during migrations; may winter rarely in company with _J. oreganus_.

Authorities.—_Not previously published_: W. T. Shaw _in epist._ Dec. 1, 1908. J. H. Bowles _in epist._ Jan. 19, 1909.

Specimens.—P¹.

This the familiar Snow-bird of the East is occasionally seen west of the Rocky Mountains in winter and during migrations, specimens having been taken at Sumas, B. C., by Mr. Allan Brooks, and at Corvallis, Oregon, by Mr. A. R. Woodcock, in addition to the one reported from Pullman. It is not impossible that the bird is more common than we have been supposing, because, when found, it appears to be mingling freely with flocks of allied species, quite unaware of the fact that such actions are of interest to inquisitive bird-men.

No. 47. OREGON JUNCO.

A. O. U. No. 567a. Junco oreganus (Towns.).

Synonyms.—“Oregon Snow-finch.” Western Snow-bird. Oregon Snow-bird. Townsend’s Junco.

Description.—_Adult male_: Head and neck all around and chest (abruptly defined along convex posterior edge) sooty black; back and scapulars and edging of tertials warm reddish brown (nearly walnut brown); rump, upper tail-coverts and middle and greater wing-coverts slaty gray or ashy gray, sometimes glossed with olivaceous; wings and tail dusky, edged with ashy; the outermost rectrix wholly and the second chiefly touched with white, the third pair touched with white near tip; sides of breast, sides and flanks strongly washed with pinkish brown (vinaceous cinnamon); remaining underparts (below chest) white. Bill pinkish white with dusky tip; iris claret red. _Adult female_: Head and neck all around and chest scarcely contrasting in color with upperparts but changing from warm brown (bister) above to dull slaty overlaid with brownish on throat and chest; brown of back (bister or dull sepia) without reddish tinge; white on second rectrix not so extensive as in male; wash of sides duller, not so vinaceous. _Young_: Top of head and hind-neck grayish brown streaked with dusky, back and scapulars warmer brown streaked with black; throat, chest, sides and flanks pale buffy brown streaked with blackish; otherwise as in adult. Length of adult males about 6.35 (161.3); wing 2.95 (75); tail 2.56 (65); bill .43 (11); tarsus 83 (21). Females smaller.

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; black of head and throat contrasting with white of breast; white lateral tail-feathers; head _black_ as compared with _J. hyemalis_; back _reddish_ brown as compared with _J. o. shufeldti_.

Nesting.—_Nest_: on ground at base of small bush or under fallen branch, sometimes in open wood or set into brushy hillside, of dead grasses and weed stems, scantily lined, or not, with hair; dimensions 2½ inches wide by 1½ inches deep inside. _Eggs_: 2-5, usually 4, varying in ground color from pure white to pinkish white or pale blue, spotted or freckled and blotched with light reddish brown or brownish black, with occasional light cloudings of lavender; long oval to short ovate; variable in size, .80 × .60 (20.3 × 15.2) to .73 × .56 (18.5 × 14.2). _Season_: fourth week in April to first week in July or August according to altitude; two or three broods.

General Range.—Pacific Coast district; in summer from southern British Columbia north to Yakutat Bay, Alaska; in winter south irregularly to California (Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties), straggling across the Cascade-Sierras into interior.

Range in Washington.—Formerly summer resident, now chiefly migrant and winter resident west of the Cascades; winter resident and migrant east of Cascades.

Authorities.—?Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. VII., 1837, 188 (part). _Junco oreganus_ Sclater, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX., 1858, 467. T. C&S. L¹. Rh. D¹. Kb. Ra. D². Kk. B.

Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B.

In speaking of Juncoes it is necessary to distinguish between the rufous-backed bird of winter, the Oregon Junco proper, and the brownish-gray-backed bird of summer, the Shufeldt Junco. A dozen years ago _oreganus_ was supposed to be the common breeding bird of Puget Sound and the neighboring foothills, altho Shufeldt’s was well known in the more open situations. Latterly, however, there has not been any authentic account of the nesting of the red-backed bird within the State. 1903 witnessed its last appearance as a summer bird, and that only in the highlands. Recent specimens taken during the breeding season at places so remote from each other as the prairies of Pierce County, the banks of the Pend d’Oreille in Stevens County, and the High Cascades in Whatcom County, have all proven to be _J. o. shufeldti_.

The fact appears to be that we have detected a Washingtonian instance of that northward trend of species clearly recognizable in the East, but obscured to our vision heretofore in the West by reason of varied conditions and insufficient data. The theory is that the birds are still following the retreat of the glacial ice. We know that the glacial ice-sheet, now confined to Greenland and the high North, once covered half the continent. In our own mountains we see the vestigial traces of glaciers which were once of noble proportions. We know that the southward advance of the continental ice-sheet must have driven all animal life before it; and, likewise, that the territory since relinquished by the ice has been regained by the animals. What more natural than that we should witness thru close observation the northward advance of those varieties of birds which are best suited to withstand cold, and the corresponding occupation of abandoned territory on the part of those next south?