The California Towhee {PipUo cnssaUs) 



By Joseph Grinnell 



Length : 7^^ inches. 



CaHfornia, with its heautiful scenery and its wonderful variety of interesting 

 forms of vegetable life, is the home of the Towhee of our illustration. Its range 

 is long and narrow, including only that region which lies west of the Cascade and 

 Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, from Oregon southward to the northern portion 

 of Lower California. Like many other birds which are abundant and familiar, 

 the California Towhee is known by several common names. Some of these are : 

 Brown Finch or Towhee, Crissal Towhee Bunting and Canyon Finch. The last 

 name, though very commonly applied to the bird, seems quite inappropriate, for 

 this Towhee is found not only in the canyons, but also on the level country wher- 

 ever there is a growth of trees or shrubbery. It also frequents the mountain sides 

 to a height of over three thousand feet. 



The California Towhee is not only abundant, but it is also one of the most 

 characteristic birds of the States, whose name it bears. It belongs to a group of 

 the finch family, which contains a number of species with terrestrial or semi-ter- 

 restrial habits. This group is represented in the eastern portion of the United 

 States by a single species — the chewink or common towhee. In the southern and 

 western portions of our country, however, there are several species and the genus 

 reaches its greatest development in Mexico, where there are several kinds not 

 found elsewhere. 



The habits of the California Towhee are similar to those of the other mem- 

 bers of its genus. It is quite partial to the shrubby banks of streams where it seeks 

 its food by scratching among the leaves lying on the ground. It is an excellent 

 example of protective coloration; the hues of its plumage resembling quite per- 

 fectly those of the earth and fallen foliage. In some localities it is a constant com- 

 panion of the California thrasher. The song of the California Towhees consists 

 of a "few quaint chirping and hurried notes, as they sit perched on a low bush 

 in the spring." Its most striking characteristics are its brownish color, its long 

 tail and its jerking flight as it passes from bush to bush. 



Regarding its nesting habits. Dr. J. G. Cooper says that he found a large num- 

 ber that were "built in bushes, from two to four feet from the ground, and con- 

 taining but three eggs, with the exception of one, which contained four." He also 

 found nests that were built in low trees and in a vine, growing over the porch of 

 a house. However, these Towhees vary greatly in the selection of a nesting site. 

 Not infrequently the nest is placed on the ground, in hollow tree trunks, or in 

 crevices of rocks which are hidden by vegetation. Nests have also Ijeen found in 

 cactus plants not more than a foot above the ground, and in trees fully fifteen 

 feet high. 



780 



