168 
THE TOWHE GROUND-FINCH. 
the males in autumn, and the males before the females in spring, the latter 
not appearing in the Middle Districts until the end of April, a fortnight 
after the males have arrived. Many of them pass the confines of tbu 
United States in their migrations southward and northward. 
Although these birds are abundant in all parts of the Union, they never 
associate in flocks, but mingle during winter with several species of Spar- 
row. They generally rest on the ground at night, when many are caught 
by weasels and other small quadrupeds. None of them breed in Louisiana, 
nor indeed in the State of Mississippi, until they reach the open woods of 
the Choctaw Indian Nation. 
I have represented the male and female moving through the twigs of the 
common briar, usually called the black briar. It is a plump bird, and 
becomes very fat in winter, in consequence of which it is named Grasset i» 
Louisiana, where many are shot for the table by the French planters. 
Male, 85 , 12. 
Breeds from Texas along the Atlantic districts, as well as in the interior, 
northward to Labrador. Abundant. Migratory. 
Towhe Bunting, Ember iza erythrophthalma , Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. ii. p. 35. 
Fringilla erythrophthalma, Booap. Syn., p. 112. 
Ground Robin or Towhe Finch, Fringilla erythrophthalma , Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 
515. 
Towhe Bunting, Fringilla erythrophthalma , And. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 150 ; vol. v. 
p. 511. 
Adult Male. 
Bill short, robust, narrower than the head, regularly conical, acute; upper 
mandible almost straight in its dorsal outline, as is the lower, both having 
inflected edges ; the gap-line nearly straight, a little deflected at the base. 
Nostrils basal, roundish, open, partially concealed by the feathers. Head 
rather large, neck shortish, body robust. Legs of moderate length, rather 
robust ; tarsus longer than the middle toe, covered anteriorly with a few 
longish scutella ; toes scutellate above, free, the lateral ones nearly equal ; 
claws slender, arched, compressed, acute, that of the hind toe long. 
Plumage rather compact above, soft and blended beneath. Wings of 
ordinary length, the third and fourth quills longest, the first much shorter, 
the secondaries short. Tail long, rounded, the lateral feathers slightly 
curved outwards towards the tip. 
Bill black. Iris bright red. Legs and claws pale yellowish-brown. 
Head, neck, and upper parts generally, deep black. A white band across 
the primaries, partly concealed by their coverts ; outer edge of first quill 
white; margins of the last secondaries brownish- white. Lateral tail-feathers 
