You have still failed to eliminate the more likely 1W Swamp Sparrow or
1W Chipping Sparrow. I cite Rising (1996) pp200-1 and pp.
Swamp Sparrow (adult)=
Bill= upper is brown; lower yellow w/ brownish tip
Cap=crown rusty, sometime streaked;more or less distinct gray median
Super=gray; paler in front and above the eye
throat=whitish and clear or lightly streaked
Moust=dark brown or black;submoust thin and pale;malar thin and dark
Breast=clear and grayish
wingbar=rusty
tail=rusty brown
back=mantle and scapulars brown, streaked w/ black
sides=rusty beige

First winter differs in degree of rusty in cap and buffy super

Chipping Sparrow (1W)
Bill=pale brownish
Crown=brown sometimes with red medial stripe indistinct
Super=pale pale white to buff
Throat=whitish
Whiskers=diffuse
Breast=clear grayish
Wingbar=2 buffy
Tail= notched
Back=brown streaked w/ black
Sides buff

I find the split crown and lack of a stick pin problematic for Tree Sparrow,
more so than the degree of red you describe in the crown for eliminating the
others.

_Spizella_ sparrows can be tricky and when you add winter Swamp Sparrows
which are regularly misidentified as _Spizella_ it defines what keeps many
of us old birders interested.


>
>Tweeters,
>
>Today I went back to Hartman Road (Nisqually Valley) to look for the sparrow
>that had me baffled during the Olympia Christmas Bird Count on December 22,
>1996. It was a beautiful day and the sparrow was there when I drove
>up...amazing. I spent a full hour viewing this sparrow through my scope and
>taking notes and scrutinizing/reading the two field guides I brought along
>(Peterson and National Geographic).
>
>I had extremely good views of the bird, watching it perch atop a steel fence
>post or on Himalayan Blackberry vines. Occasionally, it would fly to a
>dense patch of dried-up forbs in the agicultural field. Soon, it would be
>back at a favored perch. I had a difficult time making it match any bird
>description or photo. I finally decided that the American Tree Sparrow
>provided the best fit. Here are the American Tree Sparrow field marks and
>my observations of the Nisqually sparrow.
>
>
>American Tree Sparrow Hartman Road sparrow
>
>Bill dark above, yellow below Orange bill, upper and lower, dark tip
>Red-brown cap Rusty crown, split down midline by gray
>Rufous stripe behind eye Rusty stripe behind eye
>Gray throat White or very light gray throat
>Diffuse rufous whisker stripe Whisker stripes appeared to be light
>red-brown
>Dark central spot on breast Immaculate white or light gray
>breast and belly
>Two bold white wing bars Two wing bars, upper one pretty
>non-descript
>Tail notched Tail notched
>Back streaked with black and rufous Upper back streaked light and dark
>Buffy sides Buffy sides
>
>I began to think I had a pretty good fit. The habitat description in the
>National Geographic Guide says "Winters in weedy fields, marshes, groves of
>small trees", a nearly perfect description of the Hartman Road site.
>However, the Hartman Road sparrow had an orange beak, including the upper
>mandible and the dark central breast spot (a key field mark for American
>Tree Sparrow) was obviously lacking.
>
>When I got home, I looked in "The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding"
>and saw the picture of an juvenile White-crowned Sparrow. It looks alot
>like the bird at Hartman Road. Most importantly, it has the reddish-brown
>crown stripes, the light bill with dusky tip, and the immaculate breast and
>belly.
>
>The bird was a large sparrow and it acted like a White-crowned Sparrow
>(though I don't know what an American Tree Sparrow acts like). I am tending
>to think it was a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow. Any Olympia or Tacoma
>Tweeters who might want to give this bird a look, it seems to be solidly
>planted in this spot along Medicine Creek at the first gated road on the
>left when heading north on Hartman Road.
>
>Kelly McAllister
>Olympia Washington
>
>
>

--
*********************************** I was of three minds
* Mike Patterson, Astoria, OR * like a tree
* mpatters at orednet.org * in which there are three blackbirds.
*http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters* -Wallace Stevens