The Green-tailed Towhee 



















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Taken in the Warner Mountains 



A TIMBERLINE HAUNT OF THE GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE 



Photo by the A uthor 



breasted Chat and a Chipping Sparrow. Its crown is sparrow-red ; 

 the white throat, sharply outlined against a background of gray, is 

 typically sparrow-like; but the wings and tail, of authentic "warbler 

 green," lead us to expect at least an Icterian vivacity, and in this, for- 

 tunately, we shall not be disappointed. Oberholseria is the familiar spirit 

 of the high-lying sage. Active, persuasive, incessant, yet discreet withal, 

 the presence of the Green-tailed Towhee imparts to the visitor of the 

 Sierran slopes the same sense of mystery, of evasiveness, and of com- 

 petent surveillance with which the Western Chat holds his willow bottoms 

 or his mesquite thickets in vassal expectancy. In several trips to the 

 Sierra Nevadas and the Warners, I have learned to recognize this bird in 

 many roles and disguises, but it was ten years before I had penetrated 

 the secret of his domestic economies, or had succeeded in reducing his 

 wayward irruption to any prosaic order. 



The key to Oberholseria 's presence, as well as Towheeness, is primarily 

 vocal. The commonest note heard in the upland sage or lupine associ- 

 ation is a dainty mewing. This will be uttered, as likely as not, under 

 inspection, mew-mewew-mew-mew whee, — a little plaintive, but friendly 



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