Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-02-10
This and That
BIZ Charles E. THdceaUell

A resident OF P1ney Branch road wants to
know why there is no female with the male
towhee at his feeding station.
Well, how would we know?
The male mockingbird sticks around Wash
ington, during the winter, too
He doesn't worry about his mate, why should
any one else?
She probably is safe and sound down South,
which speaks volumes for her common sense.
Mrs Towhee alias chewink, also prefers to
stay South, for which trait we must commend
her.
No one, in feathers or what have you, who
looks around Washington at this time of the
year. can be censured for looking Southwark
with envy.
Towhees, or chewinks, spend the winter in
Southern Florida, the Gulf coast in general,
and Eastern and Central Texas.
But many of the males refuse to accompany
their ladies.
1t is the lure of feeding stations we feel
sure, that has split the chewink families thus.
The beautiful male, one of the handsomest
of all birds, likes his food, and has discovered
that the "wildbird feed" put out in the modern
feeding station Is just what the doctor ordered.
This is a wonderful LOCKER" with black fore
and upper parts, and white, mixed with Gin
namon.
The bird seems to have gold on him, and
with the contrasting white and black presents
fine appearance, scarcely equaled by any
other bird.
Once he has established himself, he is faith
full to the feeding tray until spring, when the
arrival OF his mate lures him away
The nest is on the ground, usually sunk to
the level Of the surface, often under clump
of grass, or beneath shrubbery.
While the nest is carelessly made, 1t serves
its purpose, and mostly Is overlooked by hui
mans, although dogs and cats sometimes ind it.
The nest is made of leaves, grass and small
| fbers, lined with grass and roots
| The eggs, usually are four in number, are
pink-white, sprinkled with chestnut color.
| Both the most common, names, chewink and
towhee, are supposed to represent the call note
1t may be realized, then, how much people
| differ in their conception of bird sounds
'Towhee" Is preferred by the American
| Ornithologists' Union, and this is the common
| name mostly used in this vicinity
! One often hears it pronounced too-ee, but
| tow-hee Is correct.
| The towhee gets along very well with the
other wintering birds. Usually they scatter,
| when this beauty flies in, but immediately fly
| back.
The bird is in no sense mean. Most OBJ
servers will feel that so beautiful creature
could not be anything but good.
The towhee is quite scratcher, loving to
|
many an insect enemy of man.
y s. y
| An odd popularity of the towhee is its ap-
| parent indifference to the discovery OF its nest.
Most other species begin to squall the mo-
ment an intruder goes near the nest, but the
old towhee seems to be Indifferent, at least until
the nest is actually touched. Then, and then
only, he springs into action Experts are di-
vided on this, some believing that its indif-
| ference is simply to fool the enemy. Others
refuse to give the bird credit for such common
| sense.
| The latter seem to win, when they instance
| the way the cowbirds put it over on the un-
| suspecting towhee mother. Sometimes as many
| as four to six cowbird eggs are found in one
| chewink nest, with the towhees solemnly
| bringing up the invaders.
This may be accounted for by the fact that
the eggs resemble each other, though the
>cowbirds are bit smaller and lack the pink
| ish tint.
The towhee is inches long. In some places
| he is variously called the swamp robin, the
ground robin, the jo-ree, the bush bird and the
turkey sparrow.