Towhee WESTERN BIRDS 



canyon. We flushed the bird as we passed along, else 

 we would never have found her. Even then it took some 

 hunting to locate the nest. 



It contained three large, light blue eggs which were 

 thickly flecked with reddish-brown, and were evidently 

 just laid. 



Scrambling up the hillside where we could watch the 

 nesting habits of these birds, without their knowing it, 

 we seated ourselves and waited. 



The pair were across a little gully flying about in the 

 low bushes and it was half an hour before they came 

 to the nest. Then the female came gradually, flying 

 from bush to bush, her mate following her every move. 

 As they reached the tall sycamore tree, which grew just 

 a few feet from the nest, the male ascended it, singing 

 his trilling song as he went, and the female skulked on to 

 the nest. Then the male flew away down the canyon. 



There was a little open space in front of the Towhee's 

 nest, which she was obliged to cross to reach it, and by 

 watching this spot we could tell of her comings and 

 goings. She was always stealthy about it, never flying 

 right down to the nest, but hopping several feet along 

 the ground to it. The male never came to the nest, but 

 when he called from a near-by tree, the female left and 

 joined him. He always saw that she was safely back 

 again before he flew down the canyon. 



Just two weeks from the time we found the nest there 

 were three young birds in it. These nestlings were much 

 larger than the young of the common California Towhee 

 (a bird not found in the east). They had pink skin 

 and in a few places there were tufts of dark down. 

 Their mouths were large and edged with white. 



For four hours we stayed near the nest and watched 

 the movements of the old birds. It was found that the 

 female stayed on the nest most of the time and that the 

 male did the feeding. He gave his me-aou call as he 



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