36G 
FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 
brown or sooty black, indistinctly streaked with black; rufous of sides 
deep. Young: Darker and more uniform than young- megalonyx; throat 
and chest sooty, not streaked. Male : length (skins) 7.08-8.18, wing 3.22- 
3.47, tail 3.42-3.87, bill .54-59. Female: length (skins) 6.95-8.00, wing 
3.03-3.38, tail 3.31-3.85, bill .52-.58. 
Remarks. — In the Oregon towhee the general size and hind claw are 
much smaller than in the spurred, while the absence of white markings 
makes a good field character. 
Distribution. — Breeds in humid Transition zone from British Columbia 
to San Francisco; winters south to southern California. 
588c. P. m. clementse ( Grinn .). San Clemente Towhee. 
Adult male. — Like megalonyx , but bill and feet relatively larger and 
coloration grayer; upper parts sooty, washed with olive gray; rump 
lighter, upper tail coverts finely barred with dusky. Adult female : head 
and neck dull dark brown ; wings and tail darker ; rump gray, feathers 
with dark centers and light edgings. Male: length (skins) 7.44-8.10, 
wing 3.14-3.56, tail 3.48-4.06, bill .55-.00. Female: length (skins) 7.02- 
8.30, wing 3.06-3.24, tail 3.45-3.76, bill .54-.5S. 
Distribution. — San Clemente Island, southern California. 
588d. P. m. atratus Ridgw. San Diego Towhee. 
Adult male. — Deep glossy black ; wings and scapulars heavily marked 
with white ; outer tail feathers with white thumb marks. Adult female : 
upper parts clove brown; throat and chest clove brown or sooty black. 
Remarks. — The San Diego towhee is like the spurred, but decidedly 
darker, and’with white markings more restricted. 
Distribution. — From coast district of southern California south to Lower 
California. 
591. Pipilo fuscus mesoleucus (Baird). Canyon Towhee. 
Adults. — Top of head light rufous; rest of upper parts and sides plain 
dull grayish brown ; throat buffy, finely spotted, obsolete chest patch 
formed by large spots; middle of belly whitish, hinder part of belly, 
flanks, and lower tail coverts yellowish brown. Young: upper parts dull 
grayish brown, indistinctly streaked with darker; wing coverts largely 
edged and tipped with pale rufous; lower parts dull white, changing to 
brownish on under tail coverts, largely streaked with dusky. Male: length 
(skins) 7.64-8.77, wing 3.49-3.94, tail 3.77-4.23, bill .56-.66. Female: 
length (skins) 7.75-8.72, wing 3.39-3.92, tail 3.71-4.31, bill .57-.64. 
Distribution. — Upper and Lower Sonoran zone from western Texas to 
Arizona, and from eastern Colorado south to Sonora and Chihuahua. 
Nest. — In mesquite trees rarely over 8 feet from the ground, sometimes 
in thick bunches of cholla cactus and between the leaves of yuccas, deep, 
bulky, and loosely made of coarse grasses lined with rootlets and horsehair. 
Eggs: usually 3, bluish white or pearl gray, spotted and scrawled with 
brown and sometimes black, and with purple shell markings. 
The fuscus group of towhees, while chaparral birds of the same 
general habits as the maculatus group, seem more like big fluffy- 
brown sparrows than chewinks. 
The canyon towhee, when sitting on a bush, shows his rufous 
under tail coverts and raises his crown so that the color shows there. 
He has a loud metallic chip, a call of four loud repetitions of the 
