WITH BROWN PREDOMINATIXG 249 



California west of the Sierra Nevada. Unlike the shy 

 chewink of tlic Eastern States, it comes to village door- 

 yards not only in winter but often to rear its brood. 

 Mr. Grinnell called my attention to a nest in a bush not 

 twenty feet from the house at Palo Alto, and remarked 

 that at Pasadena the Towhecs usually nested upon the 

 ground, while at Palo Alto they were oftener found in 

 •bushes. Mr. Shields records nests of the Californian 

 Towhee in crevices of vine-covered rocks, in hollow 

 trunks of trees, and in thickets five feet from the ground. 

 These Towhees are most devoted parents, resembling the 

 catbird in their piteous protests against any molesting 

 of their treasures. Early and late they scratch under the 

 dead leaves or in the rich garden soil for insects, or pick 

 up scattered grain in tlic barnyard, or crumbs at the 

 door. T have seen bits of muffin fed to the nestlings 

 with impunity, but their orthodox diet is small insects 

 and seeds, the former ])redominating while the parents 

 feed them. They are fed by regurgitation at first, but in 

 a few days they receive fresli food. As soon as able to 

 fly well, they take to the trees and spend only enough 

 time on the ground to satisfy their hunger. 



Tlie chjiracteristic song, like tlie tinkle of a silver bell, 

 is heard oftenest at this time when, late in the after- 

 noon, the little brood are safely housed in the sheltering 

 branches of an oak tree, and in the e.u'liest dawn the 

 same clear notes come up fi-om tlie copse on the edge 

 of the brook. For, unlike most birds, the Towhee sings 

 after his family cares are over as joyously as he did in 

 the full tide of his wooing. Mr. Frank Chapman's 



