176 TOWHEE, OR CBEwmiC. 



company with Cardinals. In the spring of 1884 Mr. Widmann jotted down the following 

 notes regarding the Towhee's migration: "February 24, first arrival; March 13, first 

 songbirds still scarce; March 17, arrival of bulk; March 23, many, noisy, conspicuous; 

 March 31, transients in parties of six to eight; April 1, summer residents carrying 

 building material ; April 4, last transient ; April 17 to 19, singing, fighting, love making ; 

 May 24, first young out of the nest." In Milwaukee they can be observed during the 

 spring and fall migration in large gardens among the ornamental shrubbery. 



During winter I found the Towhee a very common resident along the Cherokee- 

 rose hedges . of southern Louisiana and also in the wax myrtle thickets. In south- 

 eastern Texas they inhabit in large numbers in company with other northern Spar- 

 rows the evergreen yupon thickets and the almost impenetrable masses of shrubbery 

 overgrown with smilax and other creepers. They show the same fondness for dense 

 underwood in the forest, the bushy edges of woodlands, ravines, and glens covered with 

 dense thickets as they do in their more northern breeding ranges. I have rarely heard 

 the inspiring tow-hee in the South, the birds usually keeping perfectly silent, and only 

 their low chuck is a sign of their presence. During the night these thickets swarm with 

 birds, but in the day-time most of them are hunting for food in the neighboring cotton, 

 corn, or sugar cane fields. The Towhee, however, rarely joins these assemblages, never 

 venturing to leave the safety of its bushy retreats. 



The Towhee has many enemies, especially among the small mammals and reptiles. 

 In Louisiana they are frequently killed by pot-hunters. This beautiful and valuable and 

 in no way harmful bird, should be especially protected by the law wherever it occurs. 



As a cage-bird the Towhee is well adapted to. In a few days it has forgotten the 

 loss of its freedom, and in a few weeks after its capture it will take meal-worms out of 

 the hand of its master. A change in the diet now and then is necessary or the bird 

 will become very fat and soon dies. A mixture of various seeds, such as millet and 

 Canary seed, meal-worms and now and then hard-boiled egg in winter, green milky 

 oats and millet, lettuce. Mockingbird food mixed with grated carrots and all kinds of 

 insects in summer will keep the bird healthy. The cage should be large and its bottom, 

 especially in summer, overlaid with sods, which must be renewed every few days. The 

 bird will scratch very much in the sods, searching for insects, and this exercise will 

 prove valuable for its health. 



NAMES: Towhee, Chewink, Ground Robin, Marsh Robin, Red-eyed Towhee, Pink-pink, Wink, Wink-wink, 

 Joreet, Jaree, Towhee Bird, Towhee Bunting, Pipilo, Turkey Sparrow. — Grundrotel (Brehm); Erdfink, 

 Tohi, Tschiwink, Wink- Wink (Nhrlg.) [German]. 



SCIENTIFIC N.\MES: Friagilla erythrophthalmus Linn. (1766). Emberha erythrophthalma Gme\. (1788), 

 Wils. PIPILO ERYTHROPHTHALMUS Vieill. (1824)^ Audubon, etc. 



DESCRIPTION: Adult wale: Upper parts, black, sometimes margined with rufous; throat and breast, black; 

 belly, white; sides, rufous; outer web of primaries, mostly white; tall, black; the three outer feathers 

 tipped with white; outer web of the outer feather entirely white; iris, red. Adult fema/e.- Upper 

 parts, wings, throat, and breast, bright grayish-brown ; tail, fuscous ; the three outer feathers tipped 

 with white; sides, rufous; middle of the belly, white. Young in the Hrst plumage have the back and 

 under-parts streaked with black. 



"Length, 8.35 inches; wing, 3.34; tail, 3.68; bill, .55." (Frank M. Chapman.) 



