600 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part i 



Distribution 



Range. — The San Diego towhee is resident in southwestern Califor- 

 nia (Monterey and west slope of Walkers Pass south to Santa Cruz 

 Island, Little San Bernardino Mountains, and San Diego County) 

 and northwestern Baja California (south to about lat 32" N.). 



Casual record. — Casual on San Miguel Island, Calif., and in south- 

 eastern California (Westmorland). 



Egg dates. — California: 5 records, April 19 to May 22. 



PIPILO ERYTHROPHTHALMUS CLEMENTAE Grinnell 



San Clemente Towhee 

 Contributed by Richard Fourness Johnston 



Habits 



This subspecies was described by GrinneU (1897a). Ridgway 

 (1901) states it is "Similar to P. megalonyx but bill and feet larger 

 (at least relatively) and coloration grayer; adult male with the black 

 of a duUer or grayer cast, and the adult female with coloration much 

 lighter * * *." Miller (1951b), however, states that he is not able 

 to demonstrate the difference in bill length between clementae and 

 megalonyx. 



This bird is a permanent resident on Santa Rosa, Santa Catalina, 

 and San Clemente Islands off the coast of southern California. It 

 inhabits, according to Grinnell and Miller (1944), "Fairly tail chapar- 

 ral, especially along watercourses. Wild cherry thickets are favored 

 both because of associated ground conditions and the protection and 

 fruit supply they afford. Towhees also have been noted in cactus 

 patches and in scrub oak and toyon." It is remarkable that this race 

 is found, among the northern channel islands, only on Santa Rosa 

 Island, and not on Santa Cruz (Miller, 1951b) ; these islands are closer 

 to one another than are either to Santa Catalina and San Clemente. 



Eggs. — The four eggs in the Harvard Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology measure 25.7 by 18.5, 25.3 by 17.9, 25.0 by 17.8, and 25.0 by 

 18.2 millimeters. 



Distribution 



Range. — The San Clemente towhee is resident on Santa Rosa, 

 Santa Catalina, and San Clemente islands off southwestern California. 

 Egg date. — California: 1 record, May 9. 



