NORTB AMERICAN BIRDS. 395 



The Slate-colored Sparrow was met with by Prof. Ridgway In Parley's Park 

 among the Wasatch Mountains, nesting plentifully in the willows and other shrub- 

 bery along the streams in the month of June. It was always found in company with 

 the Mountain Song Sparrow, M. f. montana, which, in song, it greatly resembles. The 

 nests of the two species were also much alike in manner of construction and situa^ 

 tion and the eggs so similar that it required careful observation to identify a nest 

 wiien one was found. A set containing three eggs of this species is in Mr. Norrls' 

 cabinet which was collected by Major Charles E. Bendire, at Camp Harney, Oregon, 

 on June 21, 1875. The nest was in a rose thicket, two and a half feet from the ground, 

 close to Rattlesnake Creek. The eggs are of a pale bluish-green, heavily spotted with 

 burnt umber, and measure .83x.62, .SOx.62, .87x.63 inches, respectively. 



585d. STEPHEMTS' SPABBOW. Passerella iliaca stephensi Anthony. GeOg. 

 Dist.— Mountains of Southern California. 



The type locality of this subspecies is the San Jacinto Mountains. 



586. TEXAS SPABBOW. Embernaffra rufivirgata Lawr. Geog. Dist.— Valley 

 of the Lower Rio Grande in Texas and southward. 



Dr. Merrill and Mr. Sennett both note this species as a common resident on the 

 Lower Rio Grande, in Texas, where it frequents the thickets, brush-fences and low 

 shrubbery. Dr. Merrill says: "I have found the nests with eggs at Intervals from 

 May 9 to September 7. These are placed in low bushes, rarely more than three feet 

 from the ground; the nests are rather large, composed of twigs and straws, and 

 lined with finer straws and hairs; they are practically domed, the nests being placed 

 rather obliquely, and the part above the entrance being built out. The eggs are from 

 two to four in number; thirty-two average .88x.65, the extreme being .97x.67 and 

 .81x.61; they are pure white. Two, and probably three broods are raised in a sea- 

 son." Mr. Sennett obtained on April 10th young birds and a nest containing two eggs 

 about to hatch. 



587. TOWHEE. Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linn.) Geog. Dist. — Eastern States, 

 west to Eastern Dakota, Kansas, Texas and Gulf coast. 



The Red-eyed Towhee, Chewink, Ground Robin, or Marsh Robin, as it is various- 

 ly called, has an extended distribution throughout Eastern United States, from 

 Florida and Eastern Texas on the south to the Selkirk Settlements on the northwest, 

 and as far west as the edge of the Great Plains, where it is replaced by other closely 

 allied races. Breeds almost wherever found. It is a spirited bird and spends a 

 great deal of its time on the ground, hopping about among the thick underbrush, 

 frequently uttering its peculiar notes, toliee, tohee, cheicink, cheicink, in quick succes- 

 sion. The shady retreats of woodlands are also favorite resorts of this species. 

 The nest is generally placed on the ground, at thefoot of some bush, or under a fallen 

 log. It is often built on the ground in the midst of deep, damp woods, well hidden 

 in the rank grass. Occasionally, however, this Bunting places its nest in a bush 

 or sapling. Mr. Poling states that he has taken the nest from trees as high up from 

 the ground as seven and a half feet. It is a rude structure of grapevine bark, twigs, 

 weed-stalks, leaves and grasses, lined with finer grasses and rootlets. The eggs of 

 the Towhee are three or four, rarely five in number. Their ground-color is white, 

 ' pinkish, or of a faint bluish-white. There is a wide variation in the shapes and 

 and sizes of the eggs, likewise in the style and distribution of their markings. In 

 Bbape they will vary all the way from oblOng oval to globular; rounded-oval however. 



