SAN FRANCISCO TOWHEE 597 



(1931) reports a case of its multiple nesting and reuse of an old nest 

 in Palo Alto, Calif., as follows: 



"The first nest was constructed early in May among some geranium 

 bushes growing against a private garage. After the young had been 

 successfully reared and had left the first nest, a second nest was built 

 closer to the house in a hedge of cherry oak some thirty feet from the 

 first one. The young left this second nest about July 10. Within a 

 week after the departure of the young from the second nest, the 

 parents returned to the first nest and successfully raised a third brood 

 therein, the young of the third brood leaving the nest on August 9." 



The measurements of 25 eggs average 23.6 by 17.8 millimeters; the 

 eggs showing the four extremes measure 25.9 by i8.3, 25.4 by 18.5, 

 22.7 by 18.1, and 23.6 by 16.2 millimeters. 



Alden H. Miller (1942) presents the following observations on the 

 bathing habits of this subspecies: 



In the long dry summers of coastal central California, chaparral-dwelling species 

 may find water locally scarce except as it collects on foliage from the nightly fogs 

 that blow in from the ocean. Use of this supply for drinking is probably wide- 

 spread, but its availability for bathing had not been appreciated by me. 



The morning of July 29, 1942, was cool and foggy in Berkeley, and on the hill- 

 side at my home * * * the trees and bushes were dripping with water. An adult 

 Spotted Towhee * * * came to the feeding tray at 7:15 and ate some of the cracked 

 grain offered there. It was a dejected looking individual, with bare patches of 

 skin showing around the head, for it was in the middle of its annual molt; indeed 

 it left a spotted tail feather behind on the tray. It flew but a short distance, 

 stopping on top of a tangle of baccharis bushes and poison oak. At once it began 

 scuttling about under and over the wet foliage, rubbing against it and shaking 

 down drops from overhead. The wings were half spread and were fluttered in the 

 fashion customary in bathing; also the bird bent the legs, crouching down rather 

 than standing normally erect. It moved about within a radius of about two feet, 

 always in the crowns of the bushes, three to four feet above the ground. After 

 approximately a minute of this the towhee moved on, but it was detected at a 

 distance, perched, fluttering its wings and preening. The bath was not by my 

 standards especially effective, as the bird was only slightly wet, but it had 

 apparently satisfied an instinct at least. All this time there had been a pan of 

 water on the feeding tray, but it was small and fairly deep and evidently was not 

 so stimulating of the bathing reaction as the natural supply of water. 



Distribution 



Range. — The San Francisco towhee is resident along the coasts of 

 northwestern and central western California (Smith River south 

 through Santa Cruz and San Benito counties). 



Egg dates. — California: 2 records, May 7 and May 13. 



