SAN LUCAS BROWN TOWHEE 621 



N. south to Cape San Lucas. It is found in the rich desert vegetation 

 of the lowlands, and it also occurs in the mountains of the cape region, 

 in a vegetation containing such highland elements as Pinus cembroides, 

 Glaucothea brandegeei, Populus monticola, Nolina beldingi, Arbutus 

 peninsularis, and Quercus devia. Most museum specimens of this 

 form have been collected in the lowlands, and this suggests that brown 

 towhees are more common in the deserts of the cape region than in 

 the mountains. Judging by the large number of specimens in collec- 

 tions, it is a common bird over most of its range. 



Nests. — W. Brewster (1902) stated that three nests collected by 

 M. Abbot Frazar in late July were composed of dry grass, weed 

 stalks, and twigs. Two were lined with horsehair, and one with 

 horsehair and fine grass. Two nests were located in bushes, and one 

 in a tree. All were 6 to 8 feet above ground. Each nest contained 

 three eggs. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1874b) describe two nests 

 found by John Xantus; one, containing four eggs, was located in a 

 wild Humulus thicket; the other was found in a thicket of wild roses 

 in a garden fence. 



Eggs. — Brewster (1902) described the three sets of eggs collected 

 by Frazar as having a ground color "greenish white with a tinge of 

 blue," each egg marked "chiefly about the larger ends, with irregular 

 spots, dashes, and pen-lines of lavender and purplish black." Of the 

 eggs collected by Xantus, Baird, Brewer and Ridgway (1874b) state: 

 "They bear a strong resemblance to those of the P. fuscus, but the 

 markings are darker and more distinctly defined, standing out with 

 a clear and striking effect, in marked contrast with the light back- 

 ground. The ground-color of the eggs is a light tint of robin-blue. 

 The markings of dots, dashes, and lines are all about the larger end, 

 and are of a deep dark shade of purplish-brown, so dark as, except in 

 a strong light, to be undistinguishable from black." 



H. M. Hill and I. L. Wiggins (1948) found evidence of fall breeding 

 in a male collected five miles northwest of Canipol6, Nov. 18, 1946. 

 The left and right testes of this individual measured 6.0 X 3.5 mm. 

 and 5.0 X 4.0 mm. 



The measurements of 32 eggs average 23.5 by 17.2 milhmeters; 

 the eggs showing the four extremes measure 25.2 by 18.1, 20.3 by 16.3, 

 and 23.9 by 15.8 millimeters. 



Distribution 



Range. — The San Lucas brown towhee is resident in southern Baja 

 California from lat. 26°35' N. south to Cape San Lucas. 



