CONSPICUOUSLY BLACK AND WHITE 395 



Advlt Female : Similar to male, but dark sooty brown in place of black 



on head, neck, chest, and upper parts ; sides deep reddish brown. 

 Young : Upper parts almost uniform dark brown ; throat and chest 



dusky ; neck streaked ; under parts dark huffy. 

 Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast, from Southern California to 



British Columbia. 

 California Breeding Range: Humid coast belt as far south as San 



Francisco. 

 Breeding Season : May. 

 Nest : Of grasses and leaves ; lined with finer grasses ; placed on the 



ground or in bushes and stumps. 

 Eggs: 4 or 5; pinkish white or pale greenish, thickly speckled with 



cinnamon-brown. Size 0.94 X 0.70. 



The Oregon Tovvhee which, south of Mendocino 

 County, Mr. Grinnell has listed as the San Francisco 

 Towhee, differs only slightly from the latter, but has a 

 more restricted range in California. In habits it re- 

 sembles the common towhee. 



The usual nesting site of this species is on the ground, 

 in a tangle of ferns or grasses well shaded under low 

 bushes ; when, however, the proximity of enemies renders 

 a ground nest dangerous, the birds wisely choose the top 

 of a stump hidden among vines, or the thick branches of 

 bushes. The same locality is sought by them year after 

 year. 



In the deep woods where the California partridge 

 nests, it is not unusual to find the eggs of that game bird 

 in the nest of the Oregon Towhee. Mr. Cohen, of Ala- 

 meda, records one Towhee nest four feet from the ground 

 on a live-oak stub and containing four Towhee eggs and 

 fifteen eggs of the partridge. Another recorded by him 

 was on the ground, and contained three eggs of the 

 Towhee and eighteen of the partridge. The Towhee 

 abandoned the nest after six pjirtridge eggs were laid, 



