THE GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. 159 
white bordered by dusky submaxillary stripe; sides of head and neck and re- 
maining underparts ashy gray, clearing to white on abdomen, tinged with buffy 
or brownish on sides, flanks and crissum. Bill blackish above, paler below; 
legs brown, toes darker; irides cinnamon. Young birds are brown above tinged 
with greenish and streaked with dusky but with wings and tail much as in adult. 
Length of adult about 7.00 (177.8); wing 3.15 (80); tail 3.30 (84); bill .50 
(12.7) ; tarsus .94 (24). 
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; rufous crown, white throat; greenish 
coloration of upperparts. 
Nesting.— ‘Nest: in bush or on the ground. Eggs: .gox .68 (22.8 x 17.2) ; 
pale greenish or grayish white, freckled all over with bright reddish brown, 
usually aggregating or wreathing at the larger end” (Coues). 
General Range.—‘Mountain districts of western United States, from more 
eastern Rocky Mountain ranges to coast range of California; north to central 
Montana and Idaho and eastern Washington” (Ridgway). South in winter to 
Mexico and Lower California. 
Range in Washington.—Presumably summer resident in the Blue 
Mountains. 
Authorities.—[‘‘Green-tailed towhee,’ Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 
(1885, 22]. Ridgway, Birds of North and Middle America, Part I, gor. T(?). 
NOT having ourselves encountered this species we are not able to com- 
ment on Prof. Ridgway’s inclusion* of eastern Washington in the bird’s 
breeding range. ‘The Green-tailed Towhee appears to be essentially a 
mountain-loving species, and if it occurs within our borders, will be nearly 
confined to the Blue Mountains of the southeastern corner. 
Mr. Trippe, writing from Idaho Springs, Colorado, says of this bird”: 
“Tt arrives at Idaho early in May, and soon becomes abundant, remaining 
till the close of September or early part of October. It is a sprightly, active 
little bird with something wren-like in its movements and appearance. It is 
equally at home among the loose stones and rocks of a hill-side (where it 
hops about with all the agility of the Rock Wren), and the densest thickets 
of brambles and willows in the valleys, amidst which it loves to hide. It 
is rather shy, and prefers to keep at a good distance from any suspicious 
object; and if a cat or dog approaches its nest, makes a great scolding, like 
the Cat-bird, and calls all the neighbors to its assistance; but if a person 
walks by, it steals away very quietly and remains silent till the danger is 
passed. It has a variety of notes which it is fond of uttering; one sounds 
like the mew of a kitten, but thinner and more wiry; its song is very fine, 
quite different from the Towhee’s and vastly superior to it. It builds its 
nests in dense clumps of brambles, and raises two broods each season, the 
first being hatched about the middle of June.” 
a. Birds of North and Middle America, Vol. I., p. 4o1. 
b. Coues, “Birds of the Northwest’ (Ed. 1874), p. 177- 
