The Towhee 



By CHAS. E. HEIL. Needham, Mass 



THE Towhee, or ("hcwink arrives in my neighborhood during the last 

 week in April, or the first week in May, and is a common summer resi- 

 dent. The males arrive before the females — sometimes two or three days, 

 and sometimes a week or more. Along an old roadwa\' near mv home, I can gen- 

 erally find one on May Day; here as I walk along I see him scratching among 

 the leaves that lie under the bordering bushes, or, with outspread tail, fiving 

 across the road in front of me; now and then he will pause to call che-ivink, and 

 glance at me with bright e}-es. Things of beaut}-, indeed, are these red, sparkling 

 eyes, in their setting of glossy black, and many times I have admired them. 

 To me, this alert, ])arti-colored bird is one of the handsomest members of the 

 Finch family; no other is more striking, and I experience great pleasure when 

 I see the first one of the sj^ringtime. The l)irds are not shv on their arrival, and 

 one can approach quite near to them as they scratch among the brown, last 

 year's leaves. I find that a few peoj)le still have the impression that Chewinks, 

 and other members of this family, scratch like barnyard fowls. A little observation 

 will show that our domestic birds scratch with one foot at a time, whereas the 

 Chewinks, and their kind, use both simultaneouslv. 



I have found the nest, with its set of four eggs, as early as Mav 14, so it appears 

 that a few of these birds begin to construct their homes almost immediately 

 after their arrival at the North. The nesting-sites are found in the same over- 

 grown pastures and woody places that attract the Thrashers, and it is not un- 

 common to find the nests of these two species within a few feet of each other. 

 The Chewink invariabl\- builds on the ground; generally the nest is placed at 

 the foot of a bush or sapling, or under a tuft of grass, and is made of bark, dead 

 leaves, dry grass, and weed-stems, with a lining of fine dry grass. In a pasture 

 in Sharon, Massachusetts, I fcnmd one lined with horse-hair and dry grass. 

 The nest when .seen on the ground appears strongl}- made, but, when taken up, 

 is found to be rather flimsy, and loose in construction. 



The eggs — generally four — are whitish, spotted with sienna and madder 

 brown, and an occasional bit of lilac. I found two so sparsely and faintly marked 

 that as a distance of a few feet they looked like pure white eggs. The nest and 

 its contents are fine e.xamples of {protective coloration, and it takes a sharp pair 

 of eyes to find them. The nesting season begins in early May, and lasts till late 

 July, and undoubtedly two broods are reared by some of the birds. The female 

 is a very close sitter, and the colors that show when she is on the nest — brown 

 and chestnut — blend perfectly with the surroundings. On one or two occasions 

 I have found the male on the eggs, but he did not sit so close as the female. When 

 the nest is disiovered, the owners become greatly excited; they seldom approach 

 close to the intruder, but flutter about at a safe distance, calling che-wink, che- 

 wink, che-wank, till the place resounds with the racket, and one is glad to get 

 away from the vicinity. Incubation takes from twelve to thirteen days. 



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