136 



KEY AJND DESCRIPTION 



nut-brown stripes beside the central grayish one, and a brown 

 stripe back of the eye below a side stripe of ashy. These 

 stripes are not very sharply defined. (Green Finch.) 



Length, Q\; wing, 2| (25-21); tail, 2j; tarsus, |; culinen, \. West- 

 ern Texas and eastern Mexico, rarely to southern Louisiana. 



43. Towhee (687. Plpilo erythrophthdlmus). — A large, brightly 

 marked bird, with black upper parts and breast, ^\'hite belly 

 and tips of under tail feathers, and chestnut sides. In the 



female the black is 

 replaced by bright, 

 grayish brown, ex- 

 cepting that the tail 

 feathers are blackish, 

 with similar white 

 tips which can be dis- 

 tinctly seen while on 

 the wing. This is a 

 common, restless, 

 ground bird of the 

 bushy woods. The 

 notes are clear, chewink, toivliee, forming two of its com- 

 mon names. Ernest Thompson writes the full notes "cJnirk- 

 burr, piU-a-iritl-a-irill-cC (Chewink; ]\[arsh " Eobin " ; Ground 

 "Eobin"; Joree.) 



Length, S\ ; wing, .31 (3|-3;) ; tail, 3 ■ ; tarsus, 1 ; culmen, j%. United 

 States east of the Plains, and southern Canada ; breeding from Georgia 

 nortliward, and wintering from Virginia southward. The White-eyed 

 Towhee (Om7". P. e. dUeni) is a similar bird, but Kmallei', and with less 

 white on tlje wings, and only two of the under tail feathers white at tip ; 

 eyes very light-colored, almost white. This is a shyer bird than the last, 

 and is found among heavier growths. Wing, 3J ; tail, 3J. Florida north 

 to South Carolina. The Arctic Towhee (588. Pqnln macnlatns arcticvs) 

 is similar to the common towhee, but has white spots on tlie wing coverts 

 and shoulders, the white on the shoulders lengthened into streaks, and that 

 of the coverts forming two bars. The female is a dark brown, with the 

 white markings as in the male. Wing, 3| ; tail, 4. The Rocky Moun- 

 tains eastward to Kansas, and northward to the Saskatchewan River, 

 wintering from Kansas to Texas. 



Towhee 



