306 ZOOLOGY— BIRDS. 



PIPILO ABEETI, Bd. 



Abert's Towhee. 



Pipilo aberti, Bd., Stans. Rep. Exp. Great Salt Lake, 1852, 325.— Pipilo abertis (sic), 

 Bd., Ives' Col. Exped., 1S57-58, pt. iv, 0.— Kennerly, P. R. R. Rep., 

 Whipple's Route, x, 1859, 30, pi. xxx. — IIeerm., P. R. R. Rep., Parke's 

 Route, x, pt, iv, 1850, 15.— Bd., U. S. & Mex. Bound. Surv., ii, pt, ii, 1850, 

 Birds, 18.— Coues, Proc. Aead. Nat. Sci. Phila., 18CG, 90.— Id., ib., 1SC8, 

 84. — Id., Am. Nat., vii, 1873,324. — Yarrow & Bensiiaw, Rep. Orn. Specs., 

 1872, Wheeler's Exped., 1874, 15.— Henshaw, An. Lye. Nat, Hist, N. Y., 

 xi, 1S74, C— Id., An. List Birds Utah, 1872, Wheeler's Exped., 1874, 

 45.— Id., Rep. Orn. Specs., 1873, Wheeler's Exped., 1874, SI, 121. 



Though no specimens were secured, pretty good evidence of the presence 

 of this species at the alkali lakes northwest of Fort Garland, Colo., was obtained 

 by the discovery of a nest containing two eggs, which a careful comparison 

 with specimens in the Smithsonian Institution satisfies me must have 

 belonged to this bird. It had evidently been deserted a short time before. 

 The ground color of the eggs is a faint bluish-white, with heavy black 

 blotches and streaks at the larger end. 



This was a very abundant species along the Gila River, which was the 

 only point where it was seen. It frequented the thickest brush, whence its 

 loud, peculiar chirp could be heard issuing at all times. It was gregarious 

 at this time, considerable numbers being found together, and always showed 

 great shyness, betaking itself on the least alarm to the impenetrable mes- 

 quite thickets. 



In 1874, this finch was met with in the same locality and under the 

 same circumstances as the year previous. It would appear to shun the hills 

 and open country generally, and to choose as its haunts the river bottoms 

 and valleys, where, in small flocks, it is confined to the densest thickets. In 

 this dry climate, the vegetation is of a peculiarly stiff unyielding character, 

 and this, combined with the profusion of growth found along the streams, 

 renders progress at all times difficult, and occasionally well nigh impossible. 

 In breaking a passage through this barrier, I have often been greeted by 

 the loud, clear chirp of one of these birds, and in a minute the note would 

 lie re-echoed from the bushes around as the outlying individuals, warned 

 by tlic note of alarm, gathered in, until the exact nature of the danger 



