[554] BIRDS OF OREGON 



Oregon Towhee: 



Pipilo maculatus ongonus Bell 



DESCRIPTION. "Adult male: Upper farts mainly black, white markings inconspicuous; 

 streaks on back mainly obsolete or concealed; wing bars reduced to disconnected 

 round white spots, white of outer tail feather reduced to 'thumb mark,' less than 

 an inch in length, outer web mainly black; rufous of sides very dark. Adult female: 

 black replaced by dark sooty brown or sooty black, indistinctly streaked with black; 

 rufous of sides deep. Young: Darker and more uniform than young megalonyx; 

 throat and chest sooty, not streaked. Male: length (skins) 7.08-8.18, wing 3.11- 

 3.47, tail 3.41-3.87, bill .54-. 59. Female: length (skins) 6.95-8.00, wing 3.03-3.38, 

 tail 3.31-3.85, bill .52.-. 58." (Bailey) Nest and eggs: As for P. m. curtatus. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds in Southwestern British Columbia west of Cascades 

 to west-central Oregon. In Oregon: Common permanent resident of western Oregon 

 from Cascades to Pacific, south to and including Umpqua Valley. Straggles south- 

 ward into Rogue River Valley in winter. (See Figure 18.) 



THIS is ONE of the most common permanent resident birds in western 

 Oregon, where every rose thicket and evergreen blackberry patch has its 

 pair of Oregon Towhees. They are present throughout the year so com- 

 monly that it is unusual to walk along the bottom lands at any season 

 without seeing a handsome black and white and reddish fellow flirting 

 his tail nervously as he glides to a landing around a clump of bushes or 

 hops about in the thickets. 



Johnson (1880) published the first record for Oregon that we can with 

 certainty ascribe to this race. He found it commonly at Portland, Salem, 

 and Forest Grove, a status that continues to the present. Every writer 

 on western Oregon birds since his time has listed it as one of the common 

 subspecies. Between Roseburg and Grants Pass, intergradations of this 

 form and P. m. falcinellus occurs. We have one typical oregonus from 

 Roseburg, February i, 19x9 (Gabrielson Collection No. 1790), a second 

 from Oakland, August 12., 1934 (Gabrielson Collection No. 2.905), and a 

 third from Winona, Josephine County, April iz, 1911 (Gabrielson Collec- 

 tion No. 357). The last mentioned was probably a belated wintering 

 bird from farther north, as all others from that vicinity arc falcinellus. 



The eggs are usually laid in May. Our nesting dates extend from May 

 3 to June 2.5, although young of the year are always on the wing before 

 the latter date. 



Sacramento Towhee: 



Pipilo maculatus falcinellus Swarth 



DESCRIPTION. Similar to Pipilo maculatus curtatus but has slightly longer hind 

 claw, decidedly darker brown on sides and crissum, and black areas more intensely 

 and glossy black. Similar to Pipilo maculatus megalonyx but has weaker foot, 

 shorter hind claw, somewhat greater extent of white markings, and olivaceous or 

 grayish rump. (Adapted from Swarth 1913.) Si%e: Length (skins) 7.00-8.40, 



