THE BROWN TOWHEE. 
DR. BARTON W. EVERMANN. 
Near the mouth of the canyon is a copsy 
tangle of prickly pear, sage brush and live 
oak. From March until October to these is 
added a rich mass of chilacote vines, which 
run riot over and among the bushes and 
cactus to which they cling. The dark 
waxy green of the live oak, the paler, shin- 
ing green of the cactus, the still paler green 
of the chilacote, and the dull, white-dusted 
green of the sage blend most harmoniously. 
Near the center of the.copse a wood rat 
had built his unnecessarily ample home of 
sticks, dirt and leaves. The ground under- 
neath was dry and dusty and full of holes. 
Some of these the wood rat doubtless used 
on occasion, but most belonged to a family 
of spermophiles, curious rodents with fiat, 
bushy tails and resembling gray squirrels. 
Many other animals visited this copse, some 
every day, some rarely. Little gray rab- 
bits would run in now and then to escape 
the too persistent dog, or to look in on the 
wood rat and their other friends; and their 
big cousin, the jack rabbit, with the kanga- 
roo’s legs and the donkey’s ears, would 
drop in when he wished to rest in the 
shade. 
Lopho and Orty-x, the quails, would some- 
times bring their families and clean up the 
small seeds on the ground. Old Sicklebill, 
the thrasher, was a permanent resident, for 
was not his nest carefully hidden among the 
chilacote vines? There, too, Modesty It- 
self, the brown towhee, had her home. It 
was in the first days of early spring that she 
came to this copse. With her was another 
equally brown and just as modest. So alike 
were they in appearance and behavior that I 
was not always sure I knew one from the 
other. They were each a soft, olive brown 
above, a little richer on the head and rump, 
while beneath was a cleaner, paler brown. 
Never did colors of bird blend more com- 
pletely with those about it or furnish a bet- 
ter example of protective coloration. When 
the towhees had any suspicion that an en- 
emy was near, they had a habit of re- 
maining perfectly still among the dead 
leaves and sticks, and it then required sharp 
eyes to see just where they were. As to 
behavior, they were, indeed, modesty itself; 
never noisy nor unseemly in their ways. 
Their every movement was with a quiet 
dignity rarely seen among birds or men. 
Every word that either spoke was decorous 
and proper in the extreme; in marked con- 
trast with the California jay, that is always 
talking and always using words not fit to 
- print. 
Though quiet, they were always happy; 
that could be seen as plain as day. Un- 
277 
like the jay and old Sicklebill, they were 
not given to moods. They Satis hae 
noticeably excited or angry, and only for 
sufficient cause. The spring was one long 
honeymoon, and the summer and fall full 
of the joys of a happy home and a growing 
family. 
When they first came to this copse they 
were quick to see its advantages. Its 
closely interlacing branches at the ground 
afforded them a safe retreat if Accipiter, 
he of the sharp shin and cruel eye, should 
attempt their destruction. On the matted 
branches among the intertwining vines of 
the chilacote they were secure at night 
from the attacks of Strix, the barn owl. In 
the pool beneath the huge rock in the ar- 
royo near was water to slake their thirst 
during the terrible drought which from 
May to October comes to this Southland 
of California. In the canyon and on the 
foothills were wild oats and many kinds of 
weeds whose seeds are good for towhees. 
Beneath the dead leaves which formed 
great beds under every clump of bushes 
in the canyon were insect larve, small 
beetles, bugs and worms, of which young 
towhees are so fond. Near the base of 
a spreading sage brush in the edge of the 
copse they found an ideal place for the 
nest they wished to build, a spot well pro- 
tected from the sun and from the many 
enemies of the ground-nesting birds of that 
land. 
So there, in early April, they built a 
shapely nest of twigs, grass and fine strips 
of bark, and lined it inside with delicate root 
fibers and soft sheeps’ wool. Not an elab- 
orate nest, nor extreme in artistic beauty, 
but large and substantial; and its colors 
had been selected with excellent taste so 
well they matched the surroundings. 
The building of the nest was a matter 
of but a short time, and when I looked in 
on them a few days later there were in it § 
as handsome eggs as any towhee would 
care to have. Until then the cares of life 
had been few; but with the building of the 
nest and the filling of it with eggs, life be- 
came more serious. Along with ambition 
and hope came anxiety and fear. Still they 
remained the same quiet, respectful birds 
they had always been. They never quarreled 
with other birds nor bothered the least 
with their affairs; their own duties and 
simple pleasures were enough to keep them 
employed. Old Sicklebill, the thrasher, 
was at the copse every day, sometimes hop. 
ping awkwardly about and _= scratching 
among the sticks and dead leaves; some- 
times moving about among the branches 
