Chapter VIII: Section II: Head and body above brown; throat with a light patch

Pipilo fuscus, SWAINSON.

Synopsis of the Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Grayish-brown above, with a more or less appreciable rufous tinge on the crown. A patch covering the throat, ochraceous or white, contrasting with the surrounding portions, and encircled more or less completely, especially posteriorly, by dusky spots; lores like the chin. Crissum deep ochraceous, the lower part of abdomen tinged more or less with the same.

A. No trace of white tips to middle wing-coverts. Throat
ochraceous.

_a._ Crown only faintly tinged with rufous.

1. Abdomen pale grayish-brown; throat and lores deep
reddish-ochraceous; the deep ochraceous confined
posteriorly to lower tail-coverts. Wing, 3.90; tail,
5.00. _Hab._ California var. _crissalis_.

2. Abdomen distinctly white centrally, but surrounded
by grayish laterally and anteriorly; throat and lores
pale ochraceous; deep ochraceous of crissum extending
forward over lower part of abdomen. Wing, 3.80; tail,
4.00. _Hab._ Mexico var. _fuscus_.[24]

_b._ Crown very distinctly rufous.

3. The ochraceous of posterior under parts spreading
over whole lower part of abdomen and flanks.
Ochraceous of the throat palest anteriorly, the chin
and lores being almost white; it spreads over the
jugulum also, outside the series of rather scattered
dusky spots. Whole breast white. Wing, 3.80; tail,
4.30. _Hab._ Southern Middle Province of United States
ar. _mesoleucus_.

4. The ochraceous of under parts confined to crissum
and anal region; ochraceous of the throat palest
posteriorly, where it is nearly white, and confined
within the encircling series of rather coalesced dusky
spots. Abdomen, only, white. Wing, 3.80; tail, 4.20.
_Hab._ Cape St. Lucas ar. _albigula_.

B. Middle coverts distinctly, and greater obsoletely,
tipped with white. Throat white crossed by an ochraceous
band.

5. Crown without a trace of rufous. Dusky spots
surrounding the white gular patch, coalesced
posteriorly into a narrow crescent. Whole breast and
abdomen white, somewhat broken anteriorly. Flanks and
lower tail-coverts ochraceous. Wing, 3.30; tail, 3.70.
_Hab._ Mexico. (var. ?) _albicollis_.[25]

[24] _Pipilo fuscus_, SW. Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 434
(Temiscaltepec).—IB. Anim. in Menag. 1838, 347.—BP. Consp.
1851, 487.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 304 (Cordova). _?
Kieneria fusca_, BP. C. R. XL, 1855, 356.

SP. CHAR. Above dull olive-brown; the top of head having the
central portion of feathers tinged (inconspicuously and
obscurely) with rufous. Chin and throat pale rufous,
bordered by dusky streaks; a single dusky spot in lower part
of jugulum. Belly and flanks behind, anal region and
crissum, rather darker rufous. Sides grayish-olive, lighter
than the back, tingeing the breast, and leaving only a small
patch in the centre of under parts white, shading into the
surrounding ashy-brown. Fourth and fifth quills longest;
first shorter than ninth, or than secondaries.

_Dimensions_ (prepared specimen): Total length, 7.75; wing,
3.80; tail, 4.20; exposed portion of first primary, 2.30; of
longest (measured from exposed base of first primary), 3.03.
Bill: Length from forehead, .65; from nostril, .40. Legs:
Tarsus, .95; middle toe and claw, 1.00; hind toe and claw,
.68; claw alone, .36. _Hab._ Highlands of Mexico.

The specimen described is from the city of Mexico, and
belongs to Mr. G. N. Lawrence; others before us are from
Temiscaltepec (the original locality of Swainson’s type),
Guadalaxara, and Tepic.

While admitting the strong probability that the different
brown _Pipilos_ with rufous throat bordered by black spots,
_P. fuscus_, _crissalis_, _mesoleucus_, _albigula_, and
probably even _albicollis_, are geographical modifications
of the same original type, the large collection before us
vindicates the action of those who have referred the
California species to that described by Swainson as
_fuscus_, and who have distinguished the _P. mesoleucus_
from both. The original description of _fuscus_ agrees
almost exactly with _crissalis_, both actually scarcely
separable; while the _mesoleucus_, intermediate in
geographical position, is decidedly different from either.
The relationships of these different forms will be found
expressed in the general diagnosis already given.

Two descriptions given by Swainson, copied below, of the _P.
fuscus_, differ somewhat from each other, and may not have
been taken from the same specimen. The identification of
either with _P. mesoleucus_ would be a difficult matter;
while the first one expresses the peculiar characters of
_crissalis_ more nearly than any other. The statement of
“white beneath,” without any qualification, applies better
to _mesoleucus_ than to others, but the “pale rufous tinge”
observable in _crissalis_ and _fuscus_ is very different
from the abruptly defined chestnut cap of _mesoleucus_.

_Pipilo fuscus_, SWAINSON, Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 434. “Gray,
beneath paler; throat obscure fulvous, with brown spots;
vent ferruginous. Length, 8.00; bill, .70; wings, 3.50;
tail, 4.00; tarsi, .90; hind toe and claw, .70.” _Hab._
Table land; Temiscaltepec.

_Pipilo fuscus_, SWAINSON, Anim. in Men. 1838, 347.
“Grayish-brown above; beneath white; chin and throat
fulvous, with dusky spots; under tail-coverts fulvous; tail
blackish-brown, unspotted. Bill and legs pale, the latter
smaller, and the claws more curved than in any other known
species; crown with a pale rufous tinge. Length, 7.50;
wings, 3.50; tail, 4.00; tarsus, .90; middle toe and claw
the same; hinder toe, .65. Rather smaller than _maculata_.”

[25] _Pipilo albicollis_, SCLATER. Above uniform
olivaceous-brown; the cap not differently colored. Lores,
chin, and throat white, the two last bordered and defined by
dusky spots; jugulum and breast white, the former clouded
with olivaceous, and with a dusky blotch in middle; middle
of throat crossed by an olivaceous band which curves round
on each side under the ear-coverts; sides grayish. Flanks
behind, anal region, and crissum, rufous. Middle
wing-coverts with a whitish bar across their tips. Fourth
and fifth quills longest; first shorter than ninth and
secondaries. Length, 7.00; wing, 3.30; tail, 3.70. Bill and
legs light. _Hab._ Central Mexico.

This “species” may fairly be considered as one extreme of
the series of which _P. crissalis_ is the other; and differs
from the rest merely in a greater amount of white, and the
absence of rufous tinge on top of head. The fulvous of
throat is concentrated in a band across its middle portion,
leaving chin and lower throat white; this, however, is
foreshadowed in the paler chin of _mesoleucus_, and the
whitish lower throat of _albigula_. The uniformity of
coloring above is nearly equalled by that of _P. crissalis_.
The whitish band across the middle wing-coverts is the most
positive character.

Pipilo fuscus, var. crissalis, VIGORS.

BROWN TOWHEE; CAÑON FINCH.

_Pipilo fusca_, CASSIN, Illust. I, IV, 1853, 124, pl. xvii (the
figure seems to be of the California species, the description
more like _mesoleucus_).—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route,
Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV, 1857, 89. _Kieneria fusca_, BONAP.
Comptes Rendus, XL, 1855, 356. _Fringilla crissalis_, VIGORS,
Zoöl. Blossom, 1839, 19. _Oriturus wrangeli_, BRANDT, Bonap.
Comp. Rend. 43, 1856, 413. _Pipilo fuscus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 517.—HEERM. X, _S_, 51 (nest).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 245.

SP. CHAR. Above dark olive-brown, the crown with a very slight tinge of scarcely appreciable dark rufous. Under parts with the color somewhat similar, but of a lighter shade, and washed with grayish; middle of the belly only whitish; the under tail-coverts pale rufous, shading into lighter about the vent and sides of lower belly; chin and throat well-defined pale rufous, margined all round by brown spots, a few of them scattered within the margin. Eyelids and sides of head, anterior to the eye, rufous like the throat. One or two feathers on the lower part of the breast with a concealed brown blotch. Outer primary not edged with white. Fifth quill longest; first shorter than ninth, or even than secondaries. Bill pale brown, darker above; legs light. Length, 8.50 inches; wing, 4.00; tail, 4.60.

HAB. Coast region of California.

The bill is sinuated, as in _P. aberti_, differing from that of _P. erythrophthalmus_.

This race is very similar to the original _P. fuscus_ of Mexico, the original description of Swainson answering almost exactly. It is, however, considerably larger; the proportions of wing are similar; and there is no decided indication of whitish in the middle of the body beneath, such as is always distinctly appreciable in _fuscus_, and still more in _mesoleucus_.

A young bird differs but little from the adult except in having obsolete dusky streaks below; the upper parts are uniform.

HABITS. The Brown, or Cañon Finch of California is found nearly throughout the State of California. Mr. Xantus obtained it at Fort Tejon, and Mr. Ridgway observed it among the chaparrals on the foothills of the western slope of the Sierras.

Dr. Cooper considers the name of Cañon Finch ill applied to this species, as it is equally plentiful in level districts, wherever trees and shrubbery exist. He regards it as one of the most abundant and characteristic birds of California, residing in all the lower country west of the Sierras, and extending up the slopes of the Coast Range to the height of three thousand feet. They are said to have habits very similar to those of all the other species, living much upon the ground, and seeking their food among the dead leaves, which they greatly resemble in color. This resemblance Dr. Cooper regards as a great protection to them from Hawks; their hues also correspond with those of the earth and the dusky foliage during most of the year. They are thus less conspicuous in the light, and they venture more fearlessly forth and feed in open grounds.

They have but little song, and only utter a few faint chirps and hurried notes, as they sit perched upon some low bush, in the spring. At San Diego Dr. Cooper saw the first nest with eggs on April 17, but some birds had laid much earlier, as he found young hatched by the 20th. He afterwards observed other nests, all of which were built in bushes, from two to four feet from the ground, and all but one contained three eggs; the other had four. He has found them built in low trees, and one in a vine growing over the porch of a house. The nest is formed of coarse twigs, bark, and grass, is thick and large, and is lined with fine root-fibres and finer grasses. The eggs are pale blue, spotted with purplish-brown blotches, mostly small and scattered. He gives the measurement of the eggs as .90 by .65 of an inch. In the more northern part of the State they are said to lay four eggs oftener than three. They are supposed by him to have two broods in a season.

Colonel McCall has no doubt that they are found throughout California, as he has met with them from the upper waters of the Sacramento to the mouth of the Gila; the former having its origin in the extreme north, and the latter touching the extreme southern boundary of the State. It is most abundant south of Santa Barbara.

Colonel McCall states that its habits and manners differ somewhat from those of the common Towhee and the Arctic Finches. Its flight is more even and regular, and is without that violent jerking of the tail from side to side, which gives such a singular appearance of awkwardness to the movements of the Towhee. It is less shy and suspicious than the Arctic. It is also much less decidedly a Ground Finch than either of the others. Its favorite abode he found to be the vicinity of watercourses, where it is generally to be seen in pairs, though he has, at times, surprised eight or ten together under the shade of a large bush at noon in a summer day, when he has had no difficulty in procuring three or four specimens before the party dispersed. It is at all times a familiar bird, boldly coming into the roads to feed, and permitting a close approach. If compelled to retreat, it darts suddenly into the thicket, but returns as soon as the cause of alarm has disappeared. Near Santa Barbara he found thirty or forty of these birds, in the month of July, dispersed over an old field of some five acres in extent, contiguous to a sea-beach, through which flowed a small stream of fresh water. They were feeding on the ground, sheltered by a rank growth of weeds. When one was flushed it flew into a neighboring tree instead of seeking shelter again in the weeds. The young at that time were fully fledged, and scarcely differed in the color of their plumage from the adults.

Dr. Heermann once met with a nest of this bird built in a grapevine overhanging the Sacramento River. He describes the eggs of this species as differing entirely from any of this genus he had ever met with, and as having so great a resemblance to the eggs of the three different species of Blackbirds inhabiting California that they were liable to be confounded with them unless marked when taken from the nest.

Dr. Newberry, who found this bird very common in the Sacramento Valley, states that when he first met with it, a strange bird to him, its habit of scratching among the dry leaves under the bushes, as well as its long tail and jerking flight from one clump of bushes to another, at once indicated to him its affinities.

Among the memoranda made by Mr. Xantus at Fort Tejon are the following in reference to this species: “474, nest and two eggs, found May 19 on a small thorn-bush in a very dark thicket, about six feet from the ground; 1,675, nest and one egg, on a thick thorny bush, six feet from the ground; 1,851, nest and two eggs, May 12, on a rose-bush, four feet from the ground, eggs already incubated.”

The eggs of this species measure one inch by .75, have a light ground of robin-blue, and are spotted and blotched with varying shades of dark and light purple. In some the color of the blotches is so deep as not to be distinguishable from black, except in a strong light. The lighter shades are a faint lavender.

Pipilo fuscus, var. mesoleucus, BAIRD.

CAÑON BUNTING.

_Pipilo mesoleucus_, BAIRD, Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, June, 1854, 119
(Rocky Mountains).—IB. Birds N. Am. 1858, 518; pl.
xxix.—KENNERLY, P. R. R. X, b. pl. xxix.—HEERM. X, c.
p. 15.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 247. _? Pipilo fusca_, “SWAINS.,”
SCLATER & SALVIN, P. Z. S. 1869, 361 (city of Mexico).

SP. CHAR. Above very dull olivaceous-brown, with a grayish tinge; hood dull chestnut, conspicuously different from the back. Sides like the back, but paler; posteriorly, and about the vent and under tail-coverts, pale brownish-red. The ashy olive-brown of the sides scarcely meeting across the breast, the lower portion of which, with the upper belly, is rather pure white. The loral region, chin, throat, and upper part of the breast, pale yellowish-rufous, finely spotted on the sides and more coarsely across the breast with brown; an obscure spot in the middle of the breast; edge of outer primary white. Bill pale brown; legs flesh-color; first quill about equal to eighth, third and fourth longest. Length, 8.50 inches; wing, 3.80; tail, 4.70.

HAB. Valley of Upper Rio Grande and across to the Gila River. East to Santa Caterina, New Leon.

This race is similar in general appearance to _P. crissalis_, but the olive-brown and rufous are both of a lighter shade. The crown is of a decided rufous, conspicuously different from the back, instead of nearly the same tint. The light reddish under the head is wider throughout, and extends down to the upper part of the breast, blending with the colors of the breast and belly, instead of being narrower, more sharply defined, and restricted to the chin and throat; it is palest anteriorly, the chin and lore being almost white. The isolated larger spot on the breast is more conspicuous; the breast and belly are quite pure white, shaded with obsolete brownish blotches, instead of being uniform grayish-brown, with only an approach to whitish in the very middle. The edges of the wing and tail feathers are a good deal lighter, the outer web of the first primary being sharply edged with pure white, instead of obscure grayish-brown. The size generally is rather smaller, the wings more pointed.

Compared with _P. fuscus_, we find the tail decidedly longer; the wing more pointed; the first quill about equal to the eighth, instead of shorter than the secondaries. The colors generally are paler; the cap of head bright distinct rufous in strong contrast with the other plumage, instead of being only very obscurely tinged with that color. The white of belly is purer, and extends farther forward, displacing the ashy tinge almost to the buff of the throat.

If we consider all the brown _Pipilos_ as modifications of one primitive species, it will be well to consider the Arizonan and New Mexican bird as the central figure around which the others are grouped. The common character will then be varied in the California race, _crissalis_, by the absence of decided rufous on crown, a darker shade of color, and an extension of the gray of sides over the whole under parts, almost entirely displacing the white. The wing is more rounded, and the general dimensions larger southward on the central plains of Mexico; the general tints are almost precisely as in the California bird, except that the white of belly is very evident; but the chestnut cap and extended whiteness of belly, together with the pointed wing of _mesoleucus_, are wanting. In _P. albigula_ of Cape St. Lucas we have the general characters of _mesoleucus_, with paler colors, more restricted spots encircling throat, and a tendency to white in its lower part. In this it approaches _albicollis_ of Southwestern Mexico.

HABITS. This little-known form was first obtained by Dr. Kennerly, naturalist to the Pacific Railroad Expedition on the 35th parallel, under Lieutenant Whipple. He met with it at Bill Williams Fork, in Arizona, February 5, 1854. It was described by Professor Baird the following June. Dr. Kennerly furnished at the time no information in regard to its habits.

Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds observed in Lieutenant Parke’s expedition, mentions having met with this species in the vicinity of Tucson. Its habits, so far as he could judge of them from his opportunities, appeared very similar to those of _Pipilo aberti_.

Lieutenant Couch met with this species at Santa Catalina, Mexico, in April, 1853, but furnishes no information in reference to its manners. Mr. J. H. Clark, who obtained a specimen near the Copper Mines of the Mimbres, states that they were met with in abundance in the deep valleys or cañons of that region. They were almost always in or about the thick clumps of bushes, several usually being in company.

Dr. Kennerly, who met with them on a second trip, in June, 1855, near Los Nogales, in Mexico, speaks of them as not very common in that region. He found them preferring the dense bushes in the valleys. When approached, they became very restless, flying from one bush to another, accompanying their motions with very peculiar notes, which he does not describe.

Dr. Coues found this species abundantly distributed throughout the warmer portions of New Mexico and Arizona, from the valley of the Rio Grande to that of the Colorado. He did not observe any at Fort Whipple, though they were found breeding some twenty-five miles to the southward. He found them associating freely with _Pipilo aberti_, and inhabiting the same regions. The two birds have very similar habits.

Dr. Henry also states that this species is common in New Mexico both summer and winter, and, so far as he has observed, dwelling almost entirely among the mountains. It appeared to him very retiring in its habits, and seemed to prefer the cañons. He has seldom, if ever, observed it far from shady gorges, where, like its relative of the Eastern States, the Towhee Bunting, it passes the greater part of its time on the ground, and is generally accompanied by its congener, the Arctic Finch. When disturbed, it seeks the thickest cover, though it is by no means shy or difficult to approach. Its nest is usually constructed in the branches of a thick cedar or dwarf oak, and he has never known it to produce more than one brood in a season.

Dr. Cooper states that these birds are very abundant in Southern Arizona, that their habits closely resemble those of _P. aberti_, and that their eggs are similar to those of _Pipilo fuscus_.

Pipilo fuscus, var. albigula, BAIRD.

CAPE TOWHEE.

_Pipilo albigula_, BAIRD, P. A. N. S. Nov. 1859, 305 (Cape St.
Lucas).—ELLIOT, Illust. Am. Birds, I, pl. xv (“= _P.
mesoleucus_”).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 248.

SP. CHAR. Similar to var. _mesoleucus_, having, like it, a distinctly rufous crown and white abdomen. Differing, however, in the following respects: The pale ochraceous gular area is more sharply defined, the buff being confined within the encircling series of dusky spots; the buff is palest posteriorly, instead of directly the opposite. The rufous of the crissal region is more restricted, only tingeing the anal region instead of invading the lower part of the abdomen, the white beneath also is shifted farther back, covering the abdomen alone, instead of the breast, the whole jugulum being distinctly ashy, like the sides. Wing, 3.80; tail, 4.25.

HAB. Cape St. Lucas.

A very large series of specimens from Cape St. Lucas agree in possession of the characters pointed out above, distinguishing them from _mesoleucus_, to which race the present one is most nearly related.

HABITS. The White-throated or Cape Towhee of Cape St. Lucas was first met with by Mr. Xantus in the southern extremity of the peninsula of Lower California, and described by Professor Baird in 1859. Its close resemblance to _P. mesoleucus_ suggests an equal similarity as to its habits, in regard to which we possess no actual knowledge. Mr. Xantus has furnished us with no memoranda as to the manners of the bird. We have only the brief mention among his notes to the effect that No. 4,855 is the nest with four eggs of this _Pipilo_, found in a wild _Humulus_ thicket; and that No. 5,076 is a nest with eggs of the same, found in a thicket of wild roses in the garden fence.

Judging from the large number of the nests and eggs of this species collected by that gentleman at Cape St. Lucas, it would seem to be very abundant in that locality.

The eggs of this variety measure .95 of an inch in length and .72 in breadth. They bear a strong resemblance to those of the _P. fuscus_, but the markings are darker and more distinctly defined, standing out with a clear and striking effect, in marked contrast with the light background. The ground-color of the egg is a light tint of robin-blue. The markings of dots, dashes, and lines are all about the larger end, and are of a deep dark shade of purplish-brown, so dark as, except in a strong light, to be undistinguishable from black.