ARCTIC TOWHEE 583 



The measurements of 50 eggs average 24.1 by 18.0 millimeters; the 

 eggs showing the four extremes measure 27.0 by 17.9, 24.9 by 19. S, 

 21.1 by 17.3, and 23.4 by 17.0 millimeters. 



Distribution 



Range. — Great plains from southern portion of the prairie provinces 

 south to central northern Mexico. 



Breeding range. — The Arctic towhee breeds from central Alberta 

 (Fort Saskatchewan), central Saskatchewan (Carlton), and central 

 northern North Dakota (Turtle Mountains) south, east of the Rocky 

 Mountains, to southeastern Wyoming (Laramie), northeastern Colo- 

 rado (Wray), and central northern Nebraska (Long Pine), 



Winter range. — Winters from Colorado (Boulder) and Kansas (St. 

 John, Lawrence) south to southwestern New Mexico (Deming), 

 central Chihuahua (Chihuahua), central Nuevo Le6n (Monterrey), 

 and southern Texas (Laredo, 15 miles west of Bastrop). 



Casual records. — Casual west to Utah (Provo) and Arizona (Camp 

 Verde) and east to Minnesota (Madison), Iowa (Woodbury and 

 Plymouth counties), Illinois (North Evanston), New York (Bronx 

 Park, Jones Beach), New Jersey (Metuchen), and North Carolina 

 (Fayette ville) . Sight records (presumably this race) southeast to 

 Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. 



Egg dates. — Alberta: 5 records, June 10 to June 22. 



Montana: 2 records, June 14 and June 19. 



PIPILO ERYTHROPHTHALMUS MONTANUS Swarth 



Spurred Towhee 

 Contributed by Travis G. Haws and C. Lynn Hayward 



Habits 



The spurred towhee is a common and characteristic bird in central 

 Utah, particidarly along the western bases of the Wasatch Mountains. 

 Its most favored habitat seems to be large clumps of Gambel's oaks, 

 Quercus gamhelii, that grow in scattered patches on the hot, dry slopes. 

 Here the birds may be seen the year roimd, although in winter they 

 may drift downward into the valleys or more protected can5^ons 

 where they can scratch for food among the groimd debris. 



Broadly speaking, Utah marks the center of the east-west breeding 

 range of this race, which the 1957 Check-List defines as extending 

 from central eastern Calif ronia, southern and central eastern Nevada, 

 northern Utah, and northern Colorado south to southeastern CaUfornia, 

 southern Arizona, northeastern Sonora, northwestern Chihuahua, 

 and central New Mexico. In southern Arizona and adjacent Mexico, 



