Nesting of the California Brown Towhee in San Francisco
Nesting of the California Brown Towhee in San Francisco
The limitation of the range of the California Brown Towhee (Pipilo crissalis crissalis) in the San Francisco Bay region is, I think, most remarkable. This bird is comparatively common not only on the Marin and Alameda shores but also some ten or fifeen miles down the peninsula on which San Francisco is situated, yet within the city itself and the directly adjacent countryside, comprising low-lying hills, brushy canyons, farms, parks and gardens, affording identical climatic conditions together with similarity of food, shelter and nesting facilities, pipilo is, or has been in the past, entirely absent. It was therefore with great surprise not unmixed with doubt as to its authenticity that I read in THE CONDOR for November, 1916, the article by Milton S. Ray, in which he stated that a nest containing four eggs had been found in the spring of 1916 by one of the park game wardens. I wrote to Mr. Ray at the time questioning Mr. Klapp's identification, the error of which that gentleman later admitted by his renunciation of the record.
On May 4. 1917, while walking in Golden Gate Park, I was able to approach and positively identify, much to my astonishment, one of these disputed birds. It disappeared, but later investigation disclosed that it was still in the vicinity, having evidently been attracted by a caged towhee in the aviary, the imprisoned bird making frantic efforts to escape and the one in the open endeavoring no less vigorously to enter. Whether the captive had originally been caged by the park authorities (I had never previously observed it) and had allured the passing wild bird from without, or whether it had voluntarily entered by the same aperture through which it subsequently escaped, is not known. Suffice that within the following week both birds were at liberty among the trees.
It was not, however, until July 1 that the nest was discovered, situated about twelve feet up in an impenetrable tangle of brush, and presumably at that date containing a complete set, as the head of the brooding bird could be plainly seen. Because of their extreme rarity in the locality the birds and nest were allowed to remain undisturbed. Can anyone suggest a reason why this species, so abundant on adjacent shores, has until recently remained a stranger to the metropolis? The problem is an interesting one.
George W. Schussler
San Francisco, California, July 4, 1917
