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. SECTION III. _Brown; throat without light patch._ Pipilo aberti, BAIRD. ABERT’S TOWHEE. _Pipilo aberti_, BAIRD, Stansbury’s Rep. Great Salt Lake, Zoölogy, June, 1852, 325 (New Mexico).—IB. Birds N. Am. 1858, 516, pl. xxx.—KENNERLY, P. R. R. X, b, pl. xxx.—HEERMANN, X, c, 15.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 244. _Kieneria aberti_, BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XL, 1855, 356. [Line drawing: 6748 ♂] SP. CHAR. General color of upper parts pale brownish yellowish-red; beneath brighter, and more ochraceous, especially on the under coverts, palest on the middle of the belly. Sides of head anterior to eyes, and chin dark brown. Bill and legs yellowish. Length, 9 inches; wing, 3.70; tail, 4.85. HAB. Base of Rocky Mountains in New Mexico. Valley of Gila and Colorado. This plainly colored bird is perhaps the largest of the North American Finches, and is without any blotches, spots, or variations of importance from one color, except on the chin and sides of the head. The bill is similar to that of _P. erythrophthalmus_, but the cutting edge is less concave and more sinuated. The tail is more graduated; the claws thicker and stronger. The wings are short and much rounded; the first quill shorter than the secondaries; fifth and fourth longest. It may be easily distinguished from all the varieties of _fuscus_ by the blackish lores and chin, as well as by the absence of any colored gular area, there being, instead, a pinkish rufous tinge prevalent over the whole throat and jugulum. There are no dusky spots across the throat as in _fuscus_. HABITS. Dr. Cooper assigns the base of the Rocky Mountains, in New Mexico, and the valleys of the Gila and Colorado Rivers, as the habitat of this species. Dr. Coues speaks of it as one of the most abundant and characteristic birds of those two valleys, and adds that it ranges northward to within a few miles of Fort Whipple, but is not found in the adjacent mountains. It was common at Fort Mohave, and particularly so at Fort Yuma.