Part 41

THICK-BILLED FOX SPARROW. 585b. Passerella i. megarhyncha. 7¼ inches.

This is quite a little larger than the above, has a much thicker bill, and is to be found throughout California in the mountains.

OREGON TOWHEE. 588b. Pipilo maculatus oregonus. 8 inches.

This family are all ground birds, and are usually found scratching among the leaves for their food supply of seeds and insects. This is a much darker bird than his eastern relative. The females are marked much the same as the males, replacing the black with a brown. They build their nest on or near the ground, of twigs, grass and with a finer lining of grass, and usually it is well concealed in bunches of grass or under some brush pile. They lay four or five eggs of a pale gray or white, much spotted with brown (.95 × .75).

SAN DIEGO TOWHEE. 588d. Pipilo maculatus megolonyx. 8 inches.

Darker and with few white markings. Southern California (not illustrated).

CANON TOWHEE. 591. Pipilo fuscus mesoleucus. 8½ inches.

These birds have more brown, and nest in bushes or trees and not so much on the ground. Their eggs are more strongly marked. They range from Colorado to Texas and Arizona.

CALIFORNIA TOWHEE. 591.1. Pipilo crissalis. 9½ inches.

A larger and still darker variety, with but very little white if any. It is found in California, from Shasta County to the southern part of the state. They are not as shy as the Towhee family generally are, and frequently come about habitations, where they will scratch about barnyards like chickens. They nest within a few feet of the ground, building much the same as other members of this family. The eggs are also very similar to the others.

ABERT TOWHEE. 592. Pipilo aberti. 9 inches.

More of a reddish brown. Found in Arizona, New Mexico and southern California, where it breeds on the coast range.

GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. 592.1. Oreospiza chlorura. 7 inches.

This member of the family has characteristics of his own entirely different from any of the others. They are birds of the brush, and rarely appear above the shrubbery in which they nest.

ARIZONA CARDINAL. 593a. Cardinalis c. superbus. 9 inches.

These are birds of vine grown gardens and thickets, where, with their beautiful song, brilliant plumage, and quiet disposition, they make themselves the favorites of mankind. The bill is very large and stout, but the general makeup of the bird, with its long crest, is much to be admired. They build their nest of twigs, roots and grasses, loosely put together, which is placed in bushes, vines or low trees. Their three or four eggs are a pale bluish white, with varied markings or spots of shades of brown, mostly about the larger end (1.00 × .70). Found in Arizona and into Mexico.

ARIZONA PYRRHULOXIA. 594. Pyrrhuloxia sinuata. 8½ inches.

The bill of these birds is more hooked, short and stout like the parrots. Their crest, which is not as heavy as the Cardinals, they have the habit of raising and lowering often, changing the whole appearance of the bird. Their nesting habits and eggs are similar to the last.

BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK. 596. Zamelodia melanocephala. 7½ inches.

This species similar in size to the Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the eastern sections (which is sometimes found west to Colorado), does not have the bright colors of his eastern brother. In habits they appear to be much the same, their song is wonderfully sweet and clear. They are very quiet birds, and when nesting will almost allow one to touch them before leaving. Their nests are simply a few straws and sticks, loosely laid on the forks of some horizontal branch of a bush or low tree, so frail that frequently their eggs can be seen from beneath. They lay four eggs of a bluish green, spotted and blotched with different shades of brown (1.00 × .70).

WESTERN BLUE GROSBEAK. 597a. Guiraca cærulea lazula. 7 inches.

Found more in the open woods, in small groves and along the roadside in the small brush. It seems out of place to have three members of the same family with such a difference of plumage. One with rose, white and black; the next with black, brown and yellow; and this bird, a blue and black. Their nesting habits and also their eggs are much the same as above, the eggs being a little smaller (.85 × .62).

INDIGO BUNTING. 598. Passerina cyanea. 5 inches.

An eastern form, of an indigo blue on the head, shading to lighter on the under parts and towards the rump. It is found as far west as Colorado and into Texas (not illustrated).

LAZULI BUNTING. 599. Passerina amœna. 5½ inches.

Similar to the above, but lighter, while the under parts and breast are brownish. The wings are barred with two bands of white. It is found from British Columbia to Lower California and from the western coast to eastern Colorado. The nesting habits and eggs of the two are identical. They build in bushes or lower branches of trees, only a few feet from the ground, three or four eggs of a pale bluish white, unmarked (.75 × .58).

BEAUTIFUL BUNTING. 600a. Passerina versicolor pulchra. 5½ inches.

These are the most varied in color markings of any of our North American birds, having bright colors. Found in southern and Lower California, Arizona and into Mexico. Like the above they are to be found in thickets and hedges, where they build their nests within a few feet of the ground.