394 Birds of Colorado 



Arctic Towhee. Pipilo maculatus arcticus. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 588 — Colorado Records — Cooke 97, p. 107 ;: 

 Oilman 07, p. 157 ; Rockwell 08, p. 173 ; Henderson 09, p. 237 (some- 

 of the records of P. m. montanus may refer to this subspecies). 



Description. — Closely resembling P. m. montanus and distinguished, 

 only by the relative characters of a shorter tail, tarsus, and hind claw, 

 a smaller bill and a greater extension of the white patches on the tail. 

 Wing 3 -25 ; tail 3 -80 ; cubnen -50 ; tarsus 1 -0 ; hind claw 4 ; white 

 on the lateral tail-feather 1 -35. 



Colorado specimens of this and the previous subspecies are most 

 of them intermediate, which is not surprising, as this region lies more 

 or less between the centres of the breeding areas of the two races, but 

 on the whole those examples I have examined seem nearer to P. m. 

 montanus. 



Distribution. — Breeding in the plains and eastern foothills of the 

 Rocky Jlountains from Montana and perhaps Wyoming, northwards 

 to the Saskatchewan, south in winter as far as Utah and Texas. 



In Colorado a few Towhees winter in the foothills ; these and other 

 birds passing south in the fall and returning north in the spring are 

 probably referable to this subspecies, but the difficulty of separating 

 the two forms renders it impossible to give a satisfactory account of 

 their respective ranges. 



Caiion Towhee. Pipilo fuscus mesoleucus. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 591— Colorado Records— Aiken 72, p. 202 ; 

 Beckham 87, p. 123 ; Lowe 94, p. 269 ; Cooke 97, p. 108 ; Smith 08„ 

 p. 188 ; Cary 09, p. 182 ; Henderson 09, p. 238. 



Description. — Male — General coloiu: above pale greyish-brown, 

 becoming dusky on the tail ; crown chestnut-rufous ; below grey,, 

 washed with buffy, becoming almost white on the middle of the abdo- 

 men, and tawny on the lower flanks and under tail-coverts ; chest 

 slightly mottled with black ; a narrow terminal tawny band on the 

 tail-feathers below ; iris light brown, bill dusky brown, legs light 

 brown. Length 7-80; wing 3-75; tail 4-0; culmen -54; tarsus 10. 



The sexes are alike. 



Distribution. — A resident from the Arkansas Valley of Colorado, 

 southwards through Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas tO' 

 northern Mexico. 



In Colorado the Caiion Towhee is a common resident in the south o£ 

 the State as far as the Arkansas Valley ; there is an example from 

 Red Cafion, near Colorado City, in the Aiken collection, and it has 

 recently been seen by the writer on Camp Creek, close by Colorado 

 City, constantly throughout the winter, while Smith has lately recorded 



