396 Birds of Colorado 
Distribution.—The desert regions of south-western United States, 
from south-east California to north-east New Mexico. ‘ 
The occurrence of Abert’s Towhee in Colorado rests on rather slender 
evidence. Henshaw found a nest containing two eggs which he 
believed belonged to this species at San Luis Lakes, north-west of Fort 
Garland, in 1873, but he did not obtain the bird itself. More recently 
Gilman saw, but did not procure, what he believed to be this species 
between Cortez and Navajo Springs, in the extreme south-western 
corner of the State. 
Genus OREOSPIZA. 
Medium-sized Finches—wing under 3-5—with moderate bills and 
exposed nostrils; wing short and rounded, though longer than in 
Pipilo; outer primary about equal to fourth ; seventh and sixth longest ; 
tail long, exceeding the wing, graduated, the outer feather falling 
short of the longest by about the length of the culmen; tarsus stout 
and strong, wu little less than one-third of the wing. Plumage chiefly 
greenish, edge of wing yellow, crown rufous. 
This genus contains only one western species, which has not yet 
been separated into recognized local races. 
Green-tailed Towhee. Oreospiza chlorura. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 592.1—Colorado Records—Allen 72, pp. 150, 
157; Aiken 72, p. 202; Trippe 74, p. 176; Henshaw 75, p. 307; 
Scott 79, p. 94; Minot 80, p. 230; Drew 81, p. 139; 85, p. 16; Allen 
& Brewster 83, p. 192; Beckham 85, p. 142; Morrison 86, p. 153; 
88, p. 74; Breninger 88, p. 90; Kellogg 90, p. 89; Lowe 92, p. 101; 
94, p. 269; McGregor 97, p. 38; Cooke 97, pp. 19, 108, 216; Keyser 
02, pp. 37, 292 ; Henderson 03, p. 236 ; 09, p. 238; Warren 06, p. 23 ; 
08, p. 24; 09, p. 16; Gilman 07, p. 157; Rockwell 08, p. 173. 
Description.—Male—Crown and occiput chestnut, rest of the upper- 
surface, including the forehead, deep ashy-grey, washed slightly with 
yellowish-olive ; the wings and tail strongly washed with olive-green, 
becoming bright yellow on the edge of the wing; a white supraloral 
spot and malar streak, bordered below by a black line ; chin and throat 
white, contrasting with the grey of under-parts, which pale to nearly 
white in the centre of the abdomen, and are washed with buffy on the 
flanks and under tail-coverts; iris reddish, bill black, paler on the 
lower mandible, legs horn-brown. Length 6-75 ; wing 3-20; tail 3-50; 
culmen -48; tarsus -90. 
The female resembles the male but is smaller—wing about 3.0. 
The young bird is at first without the chestnut crown-patch and is 
more olivaceous and slightly streaked with dusky on the back, and 
has the flanks more strongly tinged with buffy. 
