252 LAND BIRDS 



brush, or running swiftly across the open spaces from 

 bush to bush on the arid mountain sides, the Green- 

 tailed Tovvhee has a manner distinctly his own. You 

 ^-^^ may know him by his semi-erectile chestnut 

 \^ crown, w^hite throat, and green tail. 

 ./'^3 His alarm note is a cat-like mew, lacking 

 the harshness of the note of the catbird, and 

 the insistent force of that of the spurred 

 towhee. It is a polite protest against 

 your intrusion. His song 

 i^i^^ 4^^^^ ^^^^^ has somewhat of a thrush- 



'( ^l^ like quality, but is more varied, possessing 



a vigor and enthusiasm not found in that 

 of the more quiet singer. 



His nest is hidden in, or under, one of the 

 / stunted bushes with which the rocky ground 

 P^ s,y is covered, and, brooding there day after day, 

 ^^^ d his olive mate is safe in her protective coloring. 

 Newly hatched Towhees are the same naked 

 nestlings, whether cuddled in a chaparral- 

 /Y^ sheltered nest of the mountains or rocked in 

 a garden rosebush ; dark bluish gray in color, 

 with yellow bills, they are covered with a thin 

 whitish dow^n. They feather rapidly, and leave 



592.1. Green- i\^q ^q^i when from ten to twelve davs 

 TAILED Towhee. 



old, those of the warmer localities ma- 



" A manner distinctly 



hisoivn:' turing somewhat sooner than those born 



on the edge of the Boreal zone. They follow the adults 

 for several weeks, learning to jump forward and kick 

 out backw^ard, in scratching for their food, just as the 



