Rufous-Sided Towhee in Colorado
Rufous-sided Towhee in Colorado.-An immature male Rufous-sided Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthdmus erythropkthdmus) in first autumn plumage was collected on October 26, 1956, at Hillside Road, Boulder, Colorado. The specimen is number 6206 in the collection of the University of Colorado Museum at Boulder. This is the first confirmed record for the eastern subspecies in the state.
The specimen was sent to Robert W. Storer of the Museum of Zoology of the University of Michigan for comparison with a series of this subspecies in that collection. Dr. Storer stated that the bird agreed very well with specimens of P. e. erythrofihthalmus, although the back feathers had somewhat more brown on their tips than most of the fall-taken male towhees with which it was compared.
The bird was first heard calling in a lilac thicket, just after sunrise. This area, near Middle Boulder Creek, is apparently attractive to eastern bird stragglers because of its mesic condition. A fair amount of shrubby undergrowth is present. A Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina), a new record for Boulder County, was seen in the same area on September 28, 1956.-oAKLEIGH THORNE, II, Thorne Ecological Research Station, Boulder, Colorado, May 25,1957.
