56 NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



satch Mountains, nesting among the willows and other shrubbery along 

 streams. The nest is built in a clump of willows, or other bushes, a few 

 feet from the ground. It is made of coarse grass, lined with finer mate- 

 rial of the same. 



Hab. Head-waters of Platte and middle region of United States to Fort Tejon, and to Fort Crook, Cal. 



236. Texas Sparrow — embernagra rufivirgata. This bird has 

 been found in the valley of the Rio Grande, and at various places in 

 Mexico. Dr. Merrill found it to be a common resident in the vicinity of 

 Fort Brown, Texas, frequenting thickets and brush fences. He says: " I 

 have found the nests with eggs at intervals from May 9 to September 7. 

 These are placed in low bushes, rarely more than three feet from the 

 ground; the nests are rather large, composed of twigs and straws, and 

 lined with finer straws and hairs ; they are practically domed, the nests 

 being placed rather obliquely, and the part above the entrance being built 

 out. The eggs are from two to four in number; thirty-two average .88 by 

 .65, the extreme being .97 by .6"] and .81 by .61 ; they are pure white. 

 Two, and probably three broods are raised in a season." 



237. Chewink; Towhee — pipilo erythrophthalmus. White, thickly 

 spotted and blotched with light ashy and reddish-brown, rounded oval; 

 four or five, and measure about .95 by . 70 ; the eggs in many respects re- 

 semble those of the Cowbird and Cardinal Grosbeak. The Red-eyed 

 Towhee, Ground Robin, or Marsh Robin, as it is variously called, has an 

 extended distribution throughout eastern United States, from Florida and 

 Georgia on the southeast to the Selkirk Settlements on the northwest, and 

 as far west as the edge of the Great Plains, where it is replaced by other 

 closely allied races. Breeds almost wherever found. The nest is regularly 

 placed on the ground, at the foot of some bush, or under a fallen log. It 

 is often built on the ground in the midst of deep, damp woods, well hid- 

 den in the rank grass. Occasionally, however, this Bunting places its nest 

 in a bush or sapling. It is a rude structure of grapevine bark, twigs, weed- 

 stalks, leaves, and grasses, lined with finer grasses and rootlets. 



238. Northern Towhee — pipilo maculatus arcticus. White, so 

 thickly covered with fine dots of umber-brown, intermingled with paler 

 markings of lavender and neutral tints that the ground is hardly distin- 

 guishable, oval; four; size, i. by .70. The Arctic Towhee Bunting has 

 been found in the valley of the Saskatchewan where it is thought to breed, 

 and on the high central plains of the Upper Missouri and the Yellowstone 

 and Platte Rivers. An abundant species in the valley of the Great Slave 



