TEXAS TOWHEE 591 



Mountains, which lie in northern Brewster County between the Chisos 

 and Davis mountains, suggests its breeding there also. However 

 the rufous-sided towhee is absent from the low mountain ranges 

 between the Davis and Guadalupe mountains, as the woodland of 

 juniper and pinyon there appears too open for it (William B. Davis, 

 pers. comm.). 



Spring. — A. H. Miller (1955a) reported only sporadic singing of 

 males in the higher parts of the Sierra del Carmen in the period 

 Apr. 4-Apr. 18, 1953, and he noted a preponderance of males present 

 at this time. These males, although not in full breeding condition, 

 appeared to be spaced on territories. 



Nesting. — Although W. W. Cooke (F. M. Bailey, 1928) stated that 

 this species "nests commonly in June" in New Mexico, the breeding 

 season appears to be a long one. Van Tyne and Sutton (1937) 

 reported that "specimens taken on April 27, 1935, in the Chisos 

 Mountains were obviously breeding," and my observation of a male 

 gathering food at 5,700 feet elevation on the north side of that range 

 on May 28, 1957, indicates early nesting. Further, I found that 

 singing was not conspicuous in Boot Canyon in the Chisos Mountains 

 (6,500 to 7,000 feet) from July 11-26, 1955, suggesting that the peak 

 of breeding had passed. However, in the Guadalupe Mountains 

 of New Mexico, Vernon Bailey found a nest with eggs on August 

 12 (F. M. Bailey, 1928) and A. P. Smith (1917) took "young, barely 

 able to fly" at 6,500 feet elevation in the Davis Mountains on Sept. 

 10, 1916. 



Although Van Tyne and Sutton (1937) spoke of this towhee as 

 being of "common" occurrence in the Chisos Mountains, I recorded 

 it as "infrequent" in the upper Chisos as a whole in the latter half 

 of July, due m part to its restricted habitat distribution. Miller 

 (1955) likewise found rufous-sided towhees "sparsely distributed" 

 in the neighboring Sierra del Carmen. 



Winter. — The 1957 A.O.U. Check-List uses the expression "resident, 

 in part at least" in referring to the montane distribution of P. e. gaigei. 

 Some evidence for altitudinal migration of this form in the Guadalupe 

 Mountains was provided by T. D. Burleigh and G. H. Lowery, Jr. 

 (1940). In December and January they found P. e. montanus the 

 only wintering towhee (two specimens), and neither of these was 

 taken or recorded above 6,000 feet elevation, whereas gaigei ranged 

 upward to 8,750 feet in June. W. B. Davis took a specimen in 

 pinyon-juniper woodland at 4,400 feet elevation in the Delaware 

 Mountains (south of the Guadalupes) on Mar. 8, 1942, and Van Tyne 

 and Sutton (1937) reported a few individuals wintering in Uve oak 

 groves at 5,000 feet elevation in the vicinity of Alpine. In the area 

 surrounding the Chisos Mountains, however, there appears to be 



