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Towhee; Chewink
Adult male--Head, throat, breast, and back black; tail black with white tips to the three outer feathers; side bright chestnut; belly white; the eye has the iris red.
Adult female--The parts that in the male are black are replaced by brown. Length--8.35. "Young in first plumage have the back and under parts streaked with black." (Chapman.)
Breeding Range--Georgia, northward to Canada, westward as far as eastern Dakota.
The nest is rather large and roughly made of dead leaves, fine roots, grass, twigs, grape-vine bark and tendrils, and lined with fine grass and roots. It is placed on the ground or in exceptional cases in bushes. Damp or dry woods, sunny slopes, thickets, or thick grassy clearings may be chosen for the nesting place. 4 and sometimes 5 eggs are laid; they are white, or white tinged with pink or blue, speckled and rarely blotched with brown, chestnut, and lilac, chiefly at the larger end. Size--.95 x .72. See Fig. 8, Plate C.
These birds, so spick and span in their fine plumage, are conspicuous only by their peculiar note, which sounds something like the word "chewink," pronounced with a rising inflection. They may be seen in the thickets or scrubby woods or in brush heaps, ever alert and on the move, jumping from twig to twig, or scratching vigorously among the dead leaves, creating as much bustle and disturbance as would a barn-yard hen. Their nest is so arranged that it is exceedingly difficult to find, the materials used in its construction corresponding both in colour and texture with the immediate surroundings. When near their home the birds are silent, unless you happen to find and disturb the nest, when both male and female join together in making the most piteous cries. The eggs are laid about the second week in May; probably but one brood is reared. Chewinks are also known as Ground Robins and Jorees.