158 



The Towhee Bunting, 



discovery by the grass and growing leaves 

 and twigs which surround it. In this nest 

 the female lays from four to six closely 

 speckled or mottled eggs. If disturbed 

 during incubation she usually manages to 

 slip off her nest unobserved, and to run 

 some little distance through the grass be- 

 fore taking flight, and is thus sometimes 

 able to throw the observer off the track as 

 to the true location of her nest. Usually, 

 however, this is readily discovered, owing to 

 the habit of choosing a location for it close 

 to some rather prominent object. 



The nest of this species is exposed to 

 more dangers than those of tree inhabiting 

 species. Snakes discover and devour both 

 eggs and young, and sometimes the old 

 bird as well, and skunks and foxes also 

 prey upon them, while crows and jays 

 are unremitting enemies. The cow bunting 

 often chooses the nest of the Towhee as a 

 cradle for its ^%'g, and we have found a 

 nest which contained three of the latter, 

 and four which belonged to the owner of 

 the structure. Although the Towhee dur- 

 ing the breeding season at the north has 

 only natural enemies to fear, yet when 

 forced south by the approach of winter, this 

 bird is eagerly sought for as an article of 

 food. In Louisiana, where they are very 

 abundant during the fall and winter, they 

 become extremely fat and are shot and 

 sent to market in great numbers. Here 

 they are known as Grassets, and are greatly 

 esteemed for the table, being regarded by 

 epicures much as is the ricebird or bobo- 

 link in other localities. 



Still, notwithstanding all the enemies 

 against which they have to contend, the 

 Towhees seem to hold their own pretty 

 well, and are very abundant. 



The Towhee Bunting is at all times an 

 active, graceful bird, and its long tail bor- 

 dered with white is conspicuously flirted 

 about as it hops or runs along the ground, 

 or passes by short flights from bush to bush. 



In the Northern States the eye of this 



bird, when it is adult is usually of a bright 

 red color, that of the young bird being 

 brown. Sometimes, however, the two eyes 

 are of different colors, one being red and 

 the other brown. Wilson speaks of an in- 

 dividual which had one eye red and the 

 other white, and Mr. Allen has described a 

 variety from Florida which has both eyes 

 white. 



The names Chewink and Towhee are 

 given this bird from a fancied resemblance 

 of its cry to these syllables. In the West 

 its common cry of anxiety or alarm is not 

 unlike the common note of the catbird, and 

 resembles the mewing of a kitten. 



The Towhee Bunting belongs to the 

 genus Pipilo, of which there are in North 

 America fifteen or eighteen species and 

 varieties scattered all over the breadth of 

 the continent. They are birds of rather 

 southerly distribution, and only two or 

 three species pass over the border line of 

 the United States into Canada. Most of 

 those found east of the Main Divide of the 

 Rocky Mountains bear a general resem- 

 blance to our eastern bird. 



The Towhee Bunting is eight and one- 

 half inches long, and measures twelve 

 inches in extent of wing. Its bill is conical 

 and very robust, the wings short and 

 rounded, and the tail long, expanded 

 toward its end and then abruptly rounded. 

 The bill is black, and the eyes bright red. 

 The legs and claws are pale flesh color. 

 The head, neck and upper parts in the 

 male are black. There is a narrow white 

 band across the wing, the outer edge of the 

 first quill of which is white. The margins 

 of some of the secondary feathers are 

 white. The outer tail feathers are mostly 

 white, and are conspicuous when the bird 

 is in flight; the next two have also some 

 white on them near their extremities. The 

 breast is white, the sides rich brownish red, 

 and the belly pale red. The female differs 

 from the male chiefly in having the black 

 of the latter replaced by brown. 



