CONSPICUOUSLY BLACK AND WHITE 393 



bright new wedding suit of buff, black, and white, and 

 is called the "reed bird." 



588 a. SPURRED TOWHEK — Pipilo maculatus 

 megalonyx. 



Family : The Finches, Sparrows, etc. 



Length: 8.50-8.90. 



Adult Male: Head, neck, chest, and upper parts except rump black; 



rump grayish ; white patch on outer tail-feathers ; small white 



patches on wings ; belly white ; flanks chestnut. 

 Adult Female. : Similar to male, but brown in place of black ; back in- 

 distinctly streaked. 

 Young : Upper parts streaked black and brown ; under parts rusty. 

 Geographical Distribviion: Rocky Mountains, west to interior of Cali- 



fornia ; north through Washington ; south to Lower California and 



Mexico. 

 Galifomia Breeding Range : Upper Sonoran and Transition zones, east 



and south of the humid coast belt nearly throughout the State. 

 Breeding Season : June 1 to July 10. 

 Nest : Of bark, leaves, and small sticks ; lined with grass ; placed on or 



near the ground in bushes. 

 F!ggs ; 4 or 5 ; pale greenish, finely speckled at the larger end. Size 



0.88 X 0.70. 

 Remark: The San Diego towhee, P. m. atratus, is very similar to the 



Spurred Towhee, but darker and with white markings more restricted. 



The Spurred Towhee is very like the common towhee 

 or chewink of the Eastern United States in coloring, 

 except for the white mixed with the black of his back and 

 wings. He is a common bird in the dense woods of the 

 lower Sierra Nevada mountains, breeding in the edge of 

 the clearings, either on the ground or a few feet up, in 

 cedar saplings and nianzanita bushes. Often as I have 

 seen them in a morning's tramp the Spurred Towhee 

 greatly outnumbered other birds, particularly if my way 

 lay through the heavy timber. 



