ANTHOXl'S BROWN TOWHEE 619 



birds within a territory suggest that, as with mockingbirds, an in- 

 truder is always at a disadvantage and usually leaves at any sign of 

 hostility. But a trapped bird cannot leave, and this fact is ignored 

 by the territory owner." 



In an anlysis of nest-site data in California, John Davis (1951) 

 notes: "In the vicinity of towns and farms the birds seem to nest 

 frequently in trees, especially fruit trees, and to a lesser extent, in 

 ornamentals such as pines, palms, and poplars. Tree nests may be 

 located up to twenty-five feet from the ground." Of 26 nests taken 

 imder natural conditions in Reche Canyon, near Colton, Riverside 

 County, "eleven were found in Eriogonum fasciculatum. They were 

 placed from two and one-half to three and one-half feet above the 

 ground. Two nests were found in Ceanothus cuneatus, two and one- 

 half and three feet above the ground. The rest were found in various 

 situations, including twenty feet up in a sycamore, and one each in 

 Convolvulus, Rhus diversUoba, sunflower, 'wild hoUy,' nettles, Salvia 

 apiana, scrub oak, and Lwpinus. One was in a cleft five feet above 

 the ground on the face of a rock wall. Only one was in tuna cactus 

 and only one on the ground." 



Efjgs. — The measurements of 13 eggs average 24.8 by 17.8 milli- 

 meters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 27.7 by 18.2, 

 26.4 by 18.6, 21.1 by 17.5, and 23.8 by 17.5 millmieters. 



Records of egg weights are not plentiful. Hanna (1924a) recorded 

 the weights of a clutch of six eggs found at Colton, Calif., in a nest 

 in black sage, 2)^ feet above the ground. These eggs weighed 4.18, 

 4.14, 4.05, 4.05, 3.98, and 3.90 grams. As six is an unusual number 

 for a brown towhee clutch, it would be interesting to compare these 

 with the weights of eggs in the normal three- or four-egg clutches. 



Distribution 



Range. — Anthony's brown towhee is resident in southern CaUfor- 

 nia, west of the Mohave and Colorado deserts, from Los Angeles 

 County southward through northwestern Baja California, west of the 

 montane coniferous forests, to lat. 29°20' N. (Yubay). Recorded 

 once from Todos Santos Island, lat. 31°48' N. 



Egg dates.' — California: 3 records, March 25 to June 6. 



PIPILO FUSCUS ARIPOLIUS Oberholser 



San Pablo Brown Towhee 

 Contributed by John Davis 



Habits 



Described by H. C. Oberholser (1919), this race differs from 

 senicida to the north in the paler and grayer coloration of its pileum 



