WESTERN BIRDS Towhoe 



note which to some quite resembles the me-aou of the 

 cat, to others seems to say, tow-hee-e or to-whee-e, and 

 still others hear the bird calling Ma-cee-e. Besides this 

 common call the birds also give a half-muffied low note 

 that always reminds me of a satisfied grunt. In contrast 

 to the musical little song of the eastern bird, this west- 

 ern one has only a thin, unmusical trill, a sort of skee- 

 ee-e or spee-ee-e, which is heard mostly during the nest- 

 ing season. 



To me this Spurred Towhee is one of our handsomest 

 birds, his deep black head and neck, his red eye, black 

 and white uppers, the white thumb-marks on the outer 

 feathers of his black tail, his white and rufous under 

 parts, make a costume that is decidedly oriental in its 

 make-up. The female, like the eastern bird, is brown 

 instead of black, and the young are homely, much striped 

 and mottled birds. 



There is enough resemblance between this male Towhee 

 and the Black-headed Grosbeak of the same family, to 

 cause some people to mistake one for the other, although 

 the latter bird has a much heavier bill, more bright color, 

 and is quite different in manners, seldom frequenting the 

 ground, which is the chosen haunt of the Towhee. In 

 this and the calls the two can be distinguished. 



Another bird that is similar in plumage and ways to 

 the Towhee, but is much smaller, is the Thurber, or 

 Sierra Junco, which has the sides buffy, rather than 

 rufous, and the back light brown. The Juncos forage 

 on the ground as do their larger cousins, but in southern 

 California they are winter visitors, only, and go about 

 in flocks. 



These Towhees usually build their nests right on the 

 ground, using coarse weeds for the foundation and finer 

 fibers for the lining. One which I found in southern 

 California was placed under a clump of coarse grasses, 

 scarcely four feet from the beaten path in a foothill 



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