396 Birds of Colorado 



Distribution. — The desert regions of south-western United StateS; 

 from south-east CaUfornia to north-east New Mexico. 



The occurrence of Abert's Towhee in Colorado rests on rather slender 

 evidence. Henshaw foimd a nest containing two eggs which he 

 believed belonged to this species at San Ltiis Lakes, north-west of Fort 

 Garland, in 1873, but he did not obtain the bird itself. More recently 

 Oilman saw, but did not procure, what he believed to be this species 

 between Cortez and Navajo Springs, in the extreme south-western 

 corner of the State. 



Genus OREOSPIZA. 



Medium-sized Finches — wing under 3-5 — with moderate bills and 

 exposed nostrils ; wmg short and roimded, though longer than in 

 Pipilo ; outer primary about equal to fourth ; seventh and sixth longest ; 

 tail long, exceeding the wing, graduated, the outer feather falling 

 short of the longest by about the length of the culmen ; tarsus stout 

 and strong, a little less than one-third of the wing. Plumage chiefly 

 greenish, edge of wing yellow, crown rufous. 



This genus contains only one western species, which has not yet 

 been separated into recognized local races. 



Green-tailed Towhee. Oreospiza chlorura. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 592.1— Colorado Records— Allen 72, pp. 150, 

 157 ; Aiken 72, p. 202 ; Trippe 74, p. 176 ; Henshaw 75, p. 307 ; 

 Scott 79, p. 94 ; Minot 80, p. 230 ; Drew 81, p. 139 ; 85, p. 16 ; Allen 

 & Brewster 83, p. 192 ; Beckham 85, p. 142 ; Morrison 86, p. 153 ; 

 88, p. 74 ; Breninger 88, p. 90 ; Kellogg 90, p. 89 ; Lowe 92, p. 101 ; 

 94, p. 269 ; McGregor 97, p. 38 ; Cooke 97, pp. 19, 108, 216 ; Keyser 

 02, pp. 37, 292 ; Henderson 03, p. 236 ; 09, p. 238 ; Warren 06, p. 23 ; 

 08, p. 24 ; 09, p. 16 ; Gihnan 07, p. 157 ; Rockwell 08, p. 173. 



Description. — Male — Crown and occiput chestnut, rest of the upper- 

 surface, including the forehead, deep ashy-grey, washed slightly with 

 yellowish-olive ; the wings and tail strongly washed with olive-green, 

 becoming bright yellow on the edge of the wing ; a white supraloral 

 spot and malar streak, bordered below by a black line ; chin and throat 

 white, contrasting with the grey of mider-parts, which pale to nearly 

 white in the centre of the abdomen, and are washed with buffy on the 

 flanks and under tail-coverts ; irLs reddish, bill black, paler on the 

 lower mandible, legs horn-brown. Length 6-75 ; wing 3-20 ; tail 3-50 ; 

 culmen -48 ; tarsus -90. 



The female resembles the male but is smaller — wing about 3-0. 

 The young bird is at first without the chestnut crown-patch and is 

 more olivaceous and slightly streaked with dusky on the back, and 

 has the flanks more strongly tinged with buffy. 



