58 NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



of the California Brown Towhee. The Canon Bunting is abundantly dis- 

 tributed throughout the warmer portions of New Mexico, Colorado, 

 Utah, Nevada and Arizona, from the valley of the Rio Grande to that of 

 the Colorado. It prefers the dense bushes of the valleys, and like the 

 Eastern Red-eye, passes the greater part of its time on the ground, in 

 thickets, generally in company with the Ai\:tic Towhee. The nest is 

 usually built in shrubs and low mesquite-trees. 



Hab. Valley of the Upper Rio Grande and across to the Gila River. East to Santa Caterina, New Leon. 



240a. Saint Lucas Brown Towhee — pipilo fuscus albigula. Light 

 blue, with markings, dots, dashes and lines about the larger end, of a deep 

 dark shade of purplish-brown, so dark as sometimes to be undistinguish- 

 able from black; the eggs of the St. Lucas, Canon, and Californian Brown 

 Towhees are hardly distinguishable; usually four; size .98 by .72. It 

 breeds abundantly at Cape St. Lucas, placing the nest usually in thickets, 

 a few feet from the ground and often on the ground, in a slight hollow. 

 It is composed of wiry grasses, a few leaves, and fine, slender rootlets. 



Hab. Lower California. 



240^. Californian Brown Towhee — pipilo fuscus crissalis. Light 

 blue, spotted and blotched with varying shades of dark and light pur- 

 ple, in some the color is not distinguishable from black, except in a 

 strong light; four is the usual number of eggs laid; size i. by .74. The 

 Californian Brown Towhee, or Canon Finch, is found nearly throughout the 

 State of California. The nest is usually built in a sage, greasewood, or 

 cactus, one to five feet from the ground. Occasionally, however, it is 

 placed in live oaks, ten to fifteen feet up, composed of twigs, bark 

 and grass, lined with rootlets. Mr. Evermann found young birds as 

 early as April 3, near Santa Paula. The late Snowdon Rowland informed 

 me that he found many nests of this species on the ground near San 



Francisco. Hab. coast region of California. 



241. Abert's Towhee — pipilo aberti. Bluish-white, with brown 

 spots and streaks in a ring near the larger end, varying in number; three 

 is the usual complement of eggs; their size is about ,98 by .74, varying. 

 The base of the Rocky Mountains, in New Mexico, and the valleys of the 

 Gila and Colorado -Rivers is the habitat assigned for this bird. It is one of 

 the most abundant birds of these two valleys. In the vicinity of Fort 

 Mohave, Arizona, it is common, and very abundant at Fort Yuma. Like 

 others of the genus, it inhabits dense underbrush, placing the nest gener- 

 ally in thorny shrubs ; it is composed of coarse twigs, interwoven with 

 grass and leaves ; occasionally, when obtainable, horse hair is used for a 

 lining. 



