402 University of California Publications in Zoology. [Vol. 7 



A second towhee was heard June 22 in the sage near the mouth 

 of the canon. Five days later two individuals were heard in 

 the willows at an altitude of 5600 feet. Both were uttering 

 their trilled ' ' tsehschsehschseh ! ' ' call-note. The testes of a male 

 specimen secured were enlarged, indicating sexual activity. 



No reason for fhe restricted distribution of the towhee is ap- 

 parent, since other caiions visited would seem to present environ- 

 mental conditions almost identical as regards exposure, altitude, 

 stream, foliage, and food supply. 



Three examples (nos. 9151-9153) were secured. 



Oreospiza chlorura (Audubon) 

 Green-tailed Towhee 



Distribution. — Occurred rather commonly in the mountains 

 between 4350 and 9000 feet altitude. Most numerous on open 

 hillsides from 5000 to 7000 feet, decreasing in numbers above 

 or below the tract between these altitudes. It was found char- 

 acteristically in the Transition, though individuals invaded 

 Upper Sonoran. 



Habits. — The great majority of green-tailed towhees were 

 noted in sagebrush. On the higher slopes they dwelt to a slight 

 extent in chinquapin and quaking-aspen thickets. Frequently 

 individuals were observed with beaks full of insects. The birds 

 were in full song during the last week in June and the first two 

 weeks in July. While singing they ordinarily perched on the 

 topmost twig of some convenient sagebush, or on the upper 

 pinnacle of some large boulder. Their song is much like that 

 of the fox sparrow, although it is not so round and full-voiced. 

 It seemed to me to be much more like that of the fox sparrow 

 than that of the vesper or lark sparrows. Ridgway (1877, p. 

 497) speaks of its close resemblance to that of the vesper in 

 style, tone, and modulation, and to the song of the lark sparrow 

 in its quality of continuity. 



One of the call-notes resembles the "mew" of a cat to a 

 considerable extent. By making a squeaking sound with the 

 lips, I induced one towhee to answer me several times with this 

 feline call. Unusual sounds, such as that just mentioned, usually 



