1S90.] Bendire on Pifilo fuscus mesoleucus and Pipilo aberti. 2 7 



sticking close to the underbrush, but not nearly as much so as 

 Pipilo aberti. It is much more easily obtained, as the localities 

 frequented by it during the breeding season are much more open 

 and free from undergrowth and creeping vines than the bottoms 

 where the former lives. During winter I have noticed it fre- 

 quently associated with other ground-feeding species like Zono- 

 trichia leucophrys and intermedia, Melospiza fasciata fat- 

 tax, Calamospiza melanocorys, Peuccea carpalis and arizonce, 

 and A?nphispiza bilineata, as well as others. Large flocks 

 composed principally of the species mentioned would fre- 

 quently alight on the open ground about my camp, especially 

 about the picket line where the cavalry horses were tied up at 

 night and fed, and at such times they would allow themselves 

 to be approached rather closely, and it was generally an easy 

 matter to select such specimens as one wanted while they 

 were searching for food. 



Pipilio aberti. 



The life history of Abert's Towhee seems to be much better 

 known than that of the Canon Towhee ; a pretty full account of 

 its habits is given in Vol. II, 'History of North American Birds,' 

 Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, pp. 12S-130. It appears that its 

 nest and eggs were first discovered by Dr. J. G. Cooper, and 

 described by him from specimens taken near Fort Mohave, Ari- 

 zona, April 1, 1S61. The types, Nos. 7275 and 7276, are still in 

 the National Museum collection, in a good state of preservation. 



Abert's Towhee is the largest of the plain colored Pipilos of the 

 Pacific coast, and a quite different looking bird from the Canon 

 Towhee, its most striking characters being its uniform pale cin- 

 namon color, only relieved by a slight edging of black around the 

 base of the bill, and its unusually long tail. I found it a quite 

 common resident, and breeding abundantly, in the vicinity of my 

 camp on Rillitto Creek, if possible even more common than the 

 Canon Towhee. In its habits it is one of the shyest birds I know, 

 and although I could readily find one of its nests, every hundred 

 feet, in a certain limited area, it was quite a different matter to 

 secure the parent for identification. I wasted more than one hour 

 in watching for these birds. Their loud alarm note of huit, 

 fruit, indicated their whereabouts readily enough, but getting a 

 good view of them was another thing. Even during the winter 



