592 U.S. NATIONAL ATUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part i 



little habitat suitable for wintering rufous-sided towhee, and I know 

 of no records of their occurrence in winter below 5,200 feet. Although 

 dense brush may be found, in the desert lowlands, there usually is 

 no accumulation of leaf litter. 



Distribution 



Range. — The Texas towhee breeds, and is resident at least in part, 

 in mountains of central eastern and southeastern New Mexico (Cabra 

 Springs, Guadalupe Mountains), western Texas (Guadalupe, Davis, 

 and Chisos Mountains), and northern Coahuila (Sierra del Carmen). 



PIPILO ERYTHROPHTHALMUS CURTATUS GrinneU 



Nevada Towhee 

 Contributed by Wendell Taber 



Habits 



Joseph Grinnell (1911c) described this race as being most nearly 

 like P. e. montanus, from which it differs mainly in being shorter 

 winged and darker colored. (For a lengthy discussion of these races, 

 see Swarth, 1913.) 



Grinnell and A. H. Miller (1944) describe its habitat as similar to 

 that of the race montanus, in brushy cover including willow thickets, 

 artemisia, and rabbit brush. In winter in the Colorado Eiver Valley, 

 it occurs in thickets of arrowweed and in atriplex bushes. J. M. 

 Linsdale (1951) states that in eastern and southern Nevada this race is 

 resident in the mountains and higher valleys, but that an appreciable 

 movement takes place in winter to lower valleys and more southern 

 parts of the state. 



It is doubtful that the habits and behavior of this race vary greatly 

 if at all from those of other races described in greater detail. 



The measurements of 20 eggs average 24.0 by 17.9 millimeters; the 

 eggs showing the four extremes measure 26.0 by 17.5, 23.9 by 18.9, 

 22.9 by 17.5, and 24.9 by 17.3 milluneters. 



Distribution 



Range. — Southern British Columbia and Idaho to northwestern 

 Mexico. 



Breeding range. — The Nevada towhee breeds from central southern 

 British Columbia (Lillooet, Okanagan Landing, Robson) and northern 

 Idaho (5 miles west of Cocolalla) south, east of the Cascades, to 

 northeastern California (south to Mono Lake), western and central 

 Nevada (Tybo), and southeastern Idaho (Craters of the Moon). 



