FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 341 



How many times have I been passing through the tim- 

 ber when a low rustle of the leaves gave promise of a grouse 

 or pheasant. I pause, again and again, only to be deceived 

 each time by some industrious towhee. Towhees often jump 

 backward, throwing the leaves in all directions, thus expos- 

 ing the bare earth, where these useful birds pick up choice 

 morsels in the form of insects, worms, and seeds. 



"Che\ving" is the call or alarm note and the song is 

 suggestive of " Tow-he-eeeee," being uttered when the male 

 mounts a low limb. 



Brush piles, fallen logs, or neglected fence comers are 

 favorite nesting covers for the chewinks. They often arrive 

 from the south late in March, before the snow disappears, 

 and nest building commences late in April. The nests are 

 usually placed on the ground, flush with the surface, well 

 concealed by a fallen branch, fern, or shrub. Sometimes a 

 brush pile or low shrub appeals to them and they place their 

 nests of stems and dry grass in these low elevations. From 

 three to five eggs are laid. The background is pale bluish- 

 white and the marks are in the form of minute specks and 

 dots of reddish-bro^vn. The cow-bird often deposits her 

 eggs in the nest of this bird. 



THE WHITE-EYED TOWHEE* 



The White-eyed Towhee is a geographical variety of the 

 northern towhee, or chewink. Its range is very limited and 

 includes only the southeastern United States, where it is the 

 most common in Florida. In Georgia and South Carolina 

 it grades into the common towhee, which it closely resem- 



