Bicknell says is the love-note of the family.
Unhappily, these birds, that many would be glad to have decrease in numbers,
take extra precautions for the safety of their young by making very deep
excavations for their nests, often as deep as eighteen or twenty inches.
THE CHEWINK (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) Finch family
Called also: GROUND ROBIN; TOWHEE; TOWHEE BUNTING; TOWHEE GROUND
FINCH; GRASEL; [EASTERN TOWHEE, AOU 1998]
Length -- 8 to 8.5 inches. About one-fifth smaller than the
robin.
Male -- Upper parts black, sometimes margined with rufous. Breast
white; chestnut color on sides and rump. Wings marked with
white. Three outer feathers of tail striped with white,
conspicuous in flight. Bill black and stout. Red eyes; feet
brown.
Female -- Brownish where the male is black. Abdomen shading from
chestnut to white in the centre.
Range -- From Labrador, on the north, to the Southern States;
West to the Rocky Mountains.
Migrations -- April. September and October. Summer resident. Very
rarely a winter resident at the north.
The unobtrusive little chewink is not infrequently mistaken for a robin,
because of the reddish chestnut on its under parts. Careful observation,
however, shows important distinctions. It is rather smaller and darker in
color; its carriage and form are not those of the robin, but of the finch.
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