TOWHE BUNTING. 
271 
wing’s and tail, bright ferruginous ; the primaries, dusky 
within and at the tips, the first and second row of 
coverts, tipt with white ; breast and belly, white ; the 
former, as well as the ear feathers, marked with large 
blotches of bright bay, or reddish brown, and the 
beginning of the belly with little arrow-shaped spots of 
black ; the tail-coverts and tail are a bright fox colour; 
the legs and feet, a dirty brownish white, or clay colour, 
and very strong ; the bill is strong, dusky above and 
yellow below ; iris of the eye, hazel. The chief differ- 
ence in the female is, that the wings are not of so bright 
a bay, inclining more to a drab ; yet this is scarcely 
observable, unless by a comparison of the two together. 
They are generally very fat, live on grass seeds, eggs 
of insects, and gravel. 
179 . FRINGILLA ERYTHROPHTHALMA , LINNJEUS. 
EMBERIZA ERYTHROPHTHALMA , WILSON TOWHE BUNTING. 
WILSON, PLATE X. FIG. V. 
This is a very common, bat humble and inoffensive 
species, frequenting close sheltered thickets, where it 
spends most of its time in scratching up the leaves for 
worms, and for the larvea and eggs of insects. It is far 
from being shy, frequently suffering a person to walk 
round the bush or thicket where it is at work, without 
betraying any marks of alarm, and when disturbed, 
uttering the notes tow-he repeatedly. At times the 
male mounts to the top of a small tree, and chants his 
few simple notes for an hour at a time. These are loud, 
not umn usical, something resembli ng those of the yellow- 
hammer of Britain, but more mellow, and more varied. 
He is fond of thickets with a southern exposure, near 
streams of water, and where there is plenty of dry 
leaves ; and is found, generally, over the whole United 
States. He is not gregarious, and you seldom see more 
than two together. About the middle or 20th of April, 
they arrive in Pennsylvania, and begin building about 
the first week in May. The nest is fixed on the ground 
