184 ABERT'S TOWHBB. 



of the Cottonwood, resting on a slight platform of small sticks and dry weed stalks. 

 Inside the nest was lined with finer material of the same kind, and a few horse hairs. 

 This first nest was a rather flimsy affair ; most of those found subsequently w^ere much 

 better constructed, principally dry w^eed stalks, the soft inner bark of dry cotton wood 

 logs, swamp grasses, fibres of wild hemp, an occasional leaf, and fine roots, entering 

 into the composition of the nests. A few only w^ere lined with horse hair, a material 

 probably furnished by my herd which grazed in the vicinity and was daily driven into 

 the creek bottom to water. The measurements of a nest taken by myself are 5.50 

 inches across externally by 4.00 inches in depth. Inner diameter, 3.00 inches ; depth, 

 2.50. The inner cavity is very small for the size of this bird, scarcely large enough to 

 accommodate the body. Its long tail sticks up out of the nest, when sitting on its eggs, 

 at a perfect right angle, and it certainly must be an uncomfortable position for the bird 

 to stay in for any length of time. 



"All the nests I have found, about eighty in number, w^ere placed in the densest 

 thickets in the creek bottom proper, with but one single exception. This I found in the 

 forks of a mesquite bush about four feet from the ground, on the open plain fully fotir 



hundred yards from its customary breeding places Fully sixty of these nests were 



placed in willow thickets, or on willow stumps around the tops of w^hich young green 

 sprouts had grown out again, the top of the stump itself making an excellent base 

 for the nest. I found many such stumps in the creek bottom, cut off about three or 

 three and a half feet from the ground. With the characteristic laziness of the native 

 Arizonian, I presume, they found it easier to cut them at that height, as it obviated 

 bending their backs to a certain extent. These young willow trees were iirom five to 

 six inches in diameter, and were used for stringers or rafters on their adobe huts, 

 to support the heavy dirt-covered roofs. I did not find a single nest directly on the 

 ground ; usually they were from two and a half to three and a half feet above it, and 

 seldom more than five feet up. After w^illows, a species of ash was the next favorite] 

 and I found one nest in such a tree fiilly twenty-five feet from the ground, placed in a 

 fork in its topmost branches. Now arid then a nest w^as placed in a bushy mesquite 

 tree, and a couple of nests I found in wild currant bushes. 



"The usual number of eggs laid by Abert's Towhee is three, sets of only two are 

 by no means unusual, however; in but a single instance I found four. Their ground- 

 color is a pale clay-blue The markings are sparse, sharp, and well defined, gener- 

 ally heaviest about the larger end, in color very dark brown, almost black in some, in 

 others these dark spots are less intense and msfrgined with vinaceous and rufous about 

 the edges. The average size of eighty-three specimens, all but six collected by myself, is 

 .94X.70 inch. 



"I believe fully three broods are raised during the season, as I found a perfectly 

 fresh set of eggs on Sept. 10. Several other species also were laying then. Abert's 

 Towhee has many enemies to contend against during the breeding season, and it is 

 questionable after all, if they ever succeed in raising more than a couple of full broods. 

 Small parties of Arizona Jays, from the mountains in the vicinity, were more than once 

 met with by me, evidently bent on an egg-hunting expedition themselves, and no doubt 

 some of the numerous species of Hawks, Owls, squirrels, and snakes, especially some of 



