WESTERN BIRDS Towhoe 



as well as plumage, it quite resembles the California. 



Sometimes at the nesting season, but not always, the 

 male sings a song which for musical ability does not 

 amount to much, but all unconscious of this, or perhaps 

 to make amends for it, the song is sung with the greatest 

 frequency from housetop, or doorstep, with an enthusiasm 

 that we humans would do well to emulate. Sometimes 

 this song is not heard until after the first nestlings are 

 reared and weaned. Perhaps it is then a psean of thanks- 

 giving that the nestlings have escaped the feline tribe, or 

 other mishap. 



Two or more broods are raised in a season and nests 

 of young have been found as early as the last of March. 

 While these Towhees are so tame and trustful for the 

 greater part of the year, when they are raising a family 

 they become suspicious and slip to and from the nest so 

 stealthily that the casual observer does not detect their 

 nesting place. 



Usually some dense mass of greenery is selected for 

 the nest; a low bush, a vine against the house, or a 

 tangle, or densely leaved crotch, in some low tree, being 

 favorite sites. Both birds work at the building, carrying 

 twigs, rags, strings, and coarse material for the founda- 

 tion, and lining the cup-shaped inside with finer fibers, 

 rootlets, or hair. At one nest where I watched the female 

 did most of the building, and that after six o'clock when 

 it was nearly dark. It is their way to build leisurely, a 

 little each day, sometimes taking two weeks at the build- 

 ing. Then the female usually waits several more days 

 before brooding begins. And, too, I have known them to 

 build one nest, then leave it and build another. They 

 are placed from two to twelve feet from the ground, but 

 usually low. From three to five pale blue eggs, which 

 have dark pencilings at the larger end, are laid and 

 brooded entirely by the female for two weeks. During 

 this time the bird leaves the nest at infrequent intervals 



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