712 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
ARCTIC TOWHEE: Pipilo maculatus arcticus (Swainson) 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 6.9-8.3 inches, wing 3.3-3.6, tail 3.6-4.1, 
bill .5. Female: Length (skins) 7.2-8.3 inches, wing 3.1-3.6, tail 3.4-4.1, bill .5. 
Similar to the Spurred Towhee, but coloration lighter, male with black of 
back mixed with olive-gray and white markings 
much more extensive, wings sometimes with a 
conspicuous white patch, tail corners with more 
white (white on outer feather 1.3-1.7 inches long); 
female and young also lighter. 
Fig. 120. Arctic Towhee, skin Range. —Breeds in Transition and Upper 
Sonoran Zones of Great Plains and Rocky 
Mountain region from southern Alberta and forks of Saskatchewan south 
to western Nebraska and Wyoming; winters from eastern Colorado and southern 
Nebraska south to southern Texas, New Mexico (?), and Utah. 
State Records. —During the winter the Arctic Towhee comes into south¬ 
eastern Colorado and south into Texas. It is known from Monon, Colorado, only 
a few miles from the New r Mexico line, and is recorded as occurring in the Arkansas 
Valley as far west as Pueblo. Under these conditions it is almost certain that part 
of these individuals enter New Mexico during migration or in winter, but as yet 
apparently the only record is from Las Vegas Hot Springs on December 14, 1882 
(Batchelder).—W. W. Cooke. 
SPURRED TOWHEE: Pipilo maculdtus montanus Swarth 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 7.1-8.3 inches, wing 3.3-3.6, tail 3.5-4.4, 
bill .5-.6. Female: Length (skins) 7.1-8.1 inches, wing 3.1-3.5, tail 3.4-4.2, bill 
.5-.6. Bill moderate, conic, wings short and rounded, tail long, graduated, feet 
large and strong, claws stout and much curved. 
Adult male: Foreparts and entire upperparts black, 
except for grayish rump and white markings on 
wings and tail corners (w T hite on outside feather 
1.1-1.3 inches long); sides deep rufous, belly white, 
iris red. Adult female: Black replaced by dark * IG - Spurred lowhee, skin 
brown, back obscurely streaked with black, white 
markings obscured. Young: Streaked with black over brownish ground above, buffy 
below, markings on wings and tail as in adult but restricted on wings; iris first 
bluish, then hazel, and later dull orange (J. A. Munro). 
Range. —Transition and Upper Sonoran Zones from British Columbia and 
Wyoming, south to Tamaulipas, New Mexico, and Sonora. 
State Records. —The breeding range of the Spurred Tow r hee includes the larger 
part of New Mexico, east to the Guadalupe Mountains (Bailey), [Sacramento 
Mountains (Ligon, 1916-1918),] the Capitan Mountains (Gaut), Cabra Springs 
(Bailey), and Sierra Grande (How r ell). It w T as common from July 28 to October 
24, 1913, in the foothills near Koehler (Kalmbach), [also noted in the Cimarron 
region, June, 1924 (Ligon).] West of this line it breeds throughout the State, up 
to 8,100 feet in the Big Hatchet Mountains (Goldman); [it breeds abundantly 
around 8,500 feet about Mount Taylor (Ligon, 1916-1918)]; to 7,400 feet near 
Cabra Springs, and to a little above 8,000 feet on the Pecos; though in general in 
these mountains of northern New r Mexico it is not common above 7,500 feet (Bailey). 
[It is fairly common in the foothills of northern Santa Fe County. A nest with 
fresh eggs was found May 31, 1920, 2 miles southeast of Santa Fe (Jensen).] The 
lower limit of the regular breeding range is only slightly low T er, since it nests down 
