FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC.: CANYON TOWHEE 
717 
In the brush on the lower slopes of the Big Hatchet Mountains at 
5,000-6,500 feet during the middle of July, 1908, Major Goldman 
found them rather common, and a nest containing three fresh eggs 
was found about four feet from the ground among the protecting 
saw-toothed blades of a Dasylirion. 
In summer Professor Merrill has found the Canyon Towhee “only 
in the mountains from about 5,500 to 7,000 feet and not numerous 
above 6,500 feet.” In winter he has seen it “sparsely in the bosque 
along the river near Mesilla Park with the Spurred Towhee, and in 
large numbers in canyons in the Organ Mountains up to 6,000 feet.” 
He says, “it nests often in cholla clusters and the young are scratching 
for themselves by July 1st. The summer note ... is a plaintive 
sort of Cheewp, softly repeated as the birds scratch among the leaves 
and grass or are perched in some low bush. In winter a noisy call of 
three yeeps is given” (MS). 
In the winter of 1884, Mr. Batchelder found the birds at Las Vegas 
Hot Springs along the river bank, and in a variety of other places. 
He writes: “Among their resorts were the small cliffs scattered along 
the river, where they poked about among the masses of fallen rocks 
at their bases, and in the clefts and gullies by which they were inter¬ 
sected. They were apt to be found, too, about the Mexican villages, 
where they might be seen perched on the high adobe wall surrounding 
a courtyard, or exploring the ruins of some deserted house that offered 
a safe retreat in case of alarm. Perhaps, however, the places where 
they were most numerous were some small irrigated fields on the 
outskirts of one of these little villages. Where these fields bordered 
the river or an irrigating ditch, they were fringed with bushes, chiefly 
willows, that were a favorite haunt of the Towhees” (1885, p. 237). 
At the Carlsbad Cavern, during Mr. Bailey's stay, while the Green- 
tails and Arctic Towhees were seen at a distance, the Canyon Towhees 
were common and friendly birds around the cave buildings, generally 
seen picking up crumbs about the dooiyards and woodpile, and were 
quick to come to grain scattered out for the quail. They also came, 
he tells us, “to my porch and doorstep where I swept out the seeds 
and rolled oats that the [tamed] kangaroo rats had scattered about 
my room. When my door was left open, they even ventured in to 
pick up such food as their bright eyes were quick to see, while watching 
me with cautiously friendly expression. They are very talkative 
among themselves, and often uttered little chirps and call-notes seem¬ 
ingly to attract my attention, evidently considering me a harmless 
and rather interesting and useful addition to the fauna of the cave 
region” (1928a, p. 156). 
Additional Literature.—Hunt, Richard, Condor, XXIV, 193-203, 1922 
(musical taste). 
