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122 TOWHE BUNTING. 
ally preferring the woods, and traversing the bottom of fences shel- 
tered with briers. He is generally very plump and fat; and, when 
confined in a cage, soon becomes familiar. In Virginia, he is called 
the Bullfinch; in many places, the Towhe Bird; in Pennsylvania, the 
Chewink, and by others, the Swamp Robin. He contributes a little to 
the harmony of our woods in spring and summer; and is remarkable 
for the cunning with which he conceals his nest. He shows great 
affection for his young, and the deepest marks of distress on the ap- 
pearance of their mortal enemy, the black snake. eee thee 
The specific name which Linneus has bestowed on this bird, is 
deduced from the color of the iris of its eye, which, in those that visit 
Pennsylvania, is dark red. But I am suspicious that this color is not 
permanent, but subject to a periodical change. I examined a great 
number of these birds in the month of March, in Georgia, every one 
of which had the iris of the eye white. Mr. Abbot, of Savannah, 
assured me that, at this season, every one of these birds he shot had 
the iris white, while at other times it was red; and Mr. Elliot, of 
Beaufort, a judicious naturalist, informed me, that in the month of 
February he killed a Towhe Bunting with one eye red and the other 
white! It should be observed that the iris of the young bird’s eye is 
of a chocolate color during its residence in Pennsylvania: perhaps 
this may brighten into a white during winter, and these may have 
been all birds of the preceding year, which had not yet received the 
full color of the eye. 
The Towhe Bunting is eight inches and a half long, and eleven 
broad; above, black, which also.descends, rounding on the breast, the 
sides of which are bright bay, spreading along under the wings; the 
belly is white ; the vent, pale rufous; a spot of white marks the wing 
just below the coverts, and another a little below that extends 
obliquely across the primaries; the tail js long, nearly even at the 
end; the three exterior feathers, white for-an inch.or so from the tips, 
the outer one wholly white, the middle ones black; the bill is black; 
the legs and feet, a dirty flesh color, and strong, for scratching up the 
ground. The female differs in being of a light reddish brown in 
those parts where the male is black, and in having the bill more of a 
light horn color.* 
* Mr. Swainson makes Pipilo a sub-genus among the Sparrows. Six species 
have been described, and the above-mentioned gentleman has lately received two 
in addition. They are confined to both continents of America, and the species of 
our author was considered as the only one belonging to the northern parts; the 
Northern Zoology will give to the public a second under the title Pipilo arctica, 
which was only met with on the plains of the Saskatchewan, where it was supposed 
to breed, from a specimen being killed late in July. It frequents shady and moist 
clumps of wood, and is generally seen on the ground. It feeds on grubs; is a 
solitary and retired, but not distrustful bird. It approaches nearest to the Mexican 
Pipilo maculata, Sw. 
“Mr. Audubon says, “ The haunts of the Towhe Bunting are dry, barren tracts, 
but not, as others have said, low and swampy grounds, at least during the season 
of incubation.” The name of Swamp Rolin would indicate something the reverse 
of this, and provincial names are generally pretty correct in their application; dif- 
ferent habits may Bethan be sought at different seasons. In “the Barrens of 
Kentucky they are found in the greatest abundance. They rest upon the ground 
at night. Their migrations are performed by day, from bush to bush; and they 
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