TOW HE BUNTING. igy 



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 colour 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 colour 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 wing ; the belly is white ; the vent, pale rufous ; a 

 spot of white marks the wings just below the coverts, and 

 another a little below that extends obliquely across the prima- 

 ries ; the tail is long, nearly even at the end ; the three exte- 

 rior 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 colour, and strong, for scratch- 

 ing 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 colour.* 



* Mr Swainson makes Pipilo a subgenus 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 



