FBINGILLID^ : FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPABBOWS, ETC. 397 
wiug-coverts, scapulars and interscapulars are fully marked with white ; the black tends to 
olive, at least on rump, and the 9 is not fairly brown. Central regicm of N. Am., from the 
limit of erythrophthalmus in Kansas, Nebraska, and Dakota, to that of oregonus in Oregon and 
Washington ; in the S. Eocky Mt. region melting into megalonyx. 
305. P. m. megalo'nyx. (/xf-yaX?/, megale, great ; ouv^, onux, claw.) Spurred Towhee Bunting. 
The prevailing form in the S. Rocky Mt. region, Kew Mexico, Arizona and California. Pre- 
cisely like arcticus, but feet larger, with highly-developed claws ; hind claw decidedly longer 
than its digit ; lateral claws reaching to or beyond middle of middle claw. In this form at any 
rate, the 9 is hardly distinguishable in color from the ^, being slaty-blackish with an appreci- 
able olivaceous shade, thus exhibiting a decided approach to the typical Mexican stock. The 
note is entirely different from that of the Eastern Towhee, being so exactly like the scolding 
^'mew" of a cat-bird, that I have heard persons stoutly contend that there are cat-birds in 
Arizona. The general habits, nest and eggs of all these Western Towhees are substantially 
the same as those of the Eastern. 
[P. fus'cus. (Lat. fuscus, dark brown.) Mexican Brown Towhee- An obscure Mexican 
stock form, carelessly described by Swaiuson, to which the three following N. Am. birds are 
probably referable as varieties.] 
306. P. f. mesoleu'cus. (Gr. fxeaos, mesos, middle; XevKos, leucos, white; the middle under parts 
whiter than in c7'issaUs.) Brown Towhee. Canon Towhee. ^, 9 Above, uniform 
grayish-brown with a slight olivaceous shade; crown brown in appreciable contrast; wings 
and tail like the back, unmarked, or some tail-feathers wdth rusty tips. Below, a paler shade 
of the color of the back, whitening on the belly, tinged with fulvous and streaked with dusky 
on the sides of throat and middle of breast, washed vidth rich rusty-brown on the flanks and 
crissum. The belly is usually quite white, contrasting with the rusty flanks and vent ; the 
throat is ochrey, usually immaculate and embraced necklace-wise with dusky spots in series on 
each side, aggregated and blotched on the breast. Bill dusky, paler below ; feet brown, toes 
usually darker than tarsus. Sexes indistinguishable. In fresh fall specimens, the tawny 
suffuses nearly all the under parts except middle of belly, and the throat spots are diffused 
instead of being in series. In the very early streaked stage, there is no distinction of a brown 
cap; the wing-coverts are rusty-edged ; and the whole under parts are dusky -streaked. Length 
8.00-8.50; wing 3.60-4.00; tail 4.25-4.60. S. W. U. S., chiefly New Mexico and Arizona, 
but also W. Texas, S. Colorado, Utah and Nevada, and interior of Southern California. Nest 
in bushes ; eggs, as in all the Brown Towhees, specked and scratched with blackish on a pale 
greenish ground. (P. fuscus of the Key, orig. ed.) 
307. P. f. albi/gula. (Lat. albus, white ; gula, throat.) White-throated Brown Towhee. 
Exactly like the last, but the white of the under parts extending further up the breast, the 
gular spots more restricted, sparser, and better defined. Lower California. Slightly distin- 
guished ; but in good spring specimens the rusty is restricted to the crissum ; the ochraceous of 
the throat is less extensive, paler, and mainly confined within the necklace. 
30 . P. f. crissalis. (Low Lat. crissalis, relating to the crissum, the under tail-coverts, which are 
highly colored.) Crissal Towhee Bunting. California Towhee. Similar to mesoleucus; 
crown like the back ; rather darker above, with an olivaceous tinge, decidedly so below, the 
middle of the belly scarcely or not whitening, the gular fulvous strong, and, with its dusky 
streaks, definitely restricted to the throat ; the flanks and crissum chestnut or deep cinnamon- 
brown. Rather larger : wing 4.00 ; tail 5.00; 9 rather less. Coast region of California (and 
northward?), abundant. Nest in bushes, probably also on ground; eggs 3-4, 0.95 X 0.72, 
pale greenish or bluish-white, fully spotted with blackish and neutral tints. This is the dark 
coast form, bearing the same relation to mesoleucus that the coast Harporhynchus redivivus 
bears to tlie paler H. lecontii of the interior. The crown is brownish, but not forming a cap 
contrasting with the back ; the throat is fulvous rather than ochrey ; this color of very limited 
