ANTHONY'S BROWN TOWHEE 617 



the vegetation, commonly called "black chaparral," its darker aspect. 

 This dark background, augmented by the frequent reduction of illumi- 

 nation by fog (and smog), tends to select the darker variants in the 

 population. 



Though essentially an inhabitant of the wild sage and chaparral 

 country, this subspecies has made itself at home in the settled suburbs 

 of Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Diego, and other cities that have 

 sprung up within its range during the past century. Wherever open 

 lawns are adjacent to dense base-plantings and other ornamental 

 shrubbery, the brown towhee becomes as common a dooryard resident 

 as the mockingbird. 



At their home in Pasadena, Harold and Josephine Michener (MS.) 

 banded more than 1,300 brown towhees over a 25-year period. 

 From most of these nothing more was ever heard, but a number of 

 individuals came back to their traps year after year, the oldest one 

 8 years after they had banded it as a juvenal. In common with 

 others who have tried to study this species through banding, the 

 Micheners found that most individuals soon became ''trap-wise." 

 Though birds holdmg territory in the vicinity may visit the feeding 

 trays regularly and glean bait spilled outside the traps, after once 

 being caught they are reluctant to enter the trap again immediately. 

 By marking some of the resident individuals with colored bands, the 

 Micheners were able to keep some track of their movements by 

 observation alone. 



One of their most interesting case histories involves a male they 

 banded as a juvenal in August 1933, who established his territory on 

 their property and maintained it there until he was last recorded in 

 March 1938, when he was almost 5 years old. "He lived in the yard 

 as we did, and was so easily found that to record each time he was seen 

 would have seemed absurd. We soon learned that his territory, 

 defined as the space within which a great many sight records were 

 made and beyond which few or none are noted, extended approxi- 

 mately 150 by 175 feet. This area contained a great many shrubs 

 and trees for its size, several water drips, and food was always avail- 

 able at a shelf on the corner of the house, on a window ledge, and on 

 the drive." 



Duiing the four breeding seasons this bird lived with the Micheners, 

 though they were unable to keep track of all his nesting activities, 

 they were able to determine he had at least three different mates. 

 Each nest these built within his territory was in a different place. 

 The first nest fomid, with four eggs in early April 1935, was on top of 

 an old mockingbird nest in a melaleuca bush. This nest was un- 

 successful, probably owing to the effects of an unprecedented heavy 

 rain, and its female was last recorded near it on May 3. By June 1 a 



