582 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part i 



"Like the Eastern Towhee, the Spotted is a bird of the brush and al- 

 most identical with it in general habits. To those familiar with the 

 former, the latter presents nothing strikingly new. The notes are 

 similar enough to be recognized as a Towhee's, but with a sufficiently 

 different tone and accent to attract attention. On the whole, the 

 Spotted Towhee's voice is hoarser, and its song less clearly musical 

 than that of its eastern relative." 



E. S. Cameron (1908) states that in Custer and Dawson Counties, 

 Mont., the average date of the towhee's arrival is the second week in 

 May, and its departure for winter at the end of September. He men- 

 tions sage brush as the common nesting site; on June 20, 1898, he 

 found a nest containing five eggs of the towhee and two of a cowbird. 

 A. A. Saunders (1921) adds that in Montana this race breeds in June 

 in the Transition Zone in thickets of willow, wild rose, and other shrubs. 

 J. C. Merrill (1881) found it abundant in Montana wherever a stream 

 with bordering imderbrush afforded the needed shelter. He writes: 

 "There is a great diversity in the time of laying, or rather in the con- 

 tents of nests found on about the same dates from the middle of May 

 until late in July, which I attribute more to the great number of nests 

 that must be destroyed by snakes, birds, and small mammals, and to 

 the attempts of the parents to raise another brood, than to any other 

 cause." He found nests on the ground usually under a bush, often a 

 cherry bush. He describes them as strongly built, with an internal 

 diameter of about 2)^ inches; the rim is flush with the ground, the 

 birds scratching a hollow large enough to contain it; externally it is 

 made of dead leaves and broad strips of bark, then a wall of finer 

 strips of bark and blades of dry grass, and finally a lining usually of 

 yellow straws. 



Wilbur C. Knight (1902) mentions two nests at Newcastle in 

 extreme northeastern Wyoming which were built on the sloping sides 

 of a canon about six feet from the bottom beside small rocks. The 

 nests were made of pine needles and lined with fine grass. 



Eggs. — The Arctic Towhee lays from two to five eggs with three or 

 four being the most common. They are short ovate or ovate, only 

 slightly glossy, and practically indistinguishable from those of the 

 eastern races. The gTound is grajnish or creamy white, sometimes very 

 pale greenish white, and generously speckled all over with "russet," 

 "Mars brown," "chestnut brown," or "Carob brown," "with under- 

 markings of "light purplish gray" or "light neutral gray." The 

 markings on most eggs tend to become concentrated toward the larger 

 end, where they are often so thick as to obscure the ground. Although 

 some eggs are blotched, in most instances the markings are numerous, 

 well-defined, small spots or speckles. 



