TOWHEE

any of several North American birds of the family Fringillidae (sometimes Emberizidae), order Passeriformes, that are long-tailed skulkers in thickets, where they noisily scratch for food on the ground. The name is from the call of the rufous-sided towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus; see ), known as chewink in the southeastern United States; it ranges from Canada to Central America. It is about 20 cm (8 inches) long, with dark hood, white-cornered tail, and rusty flanks; western races have white-spotted wings. A plain-looking towhee of the western United States is the brown towhee (P. fuscus). The green-tailed towhee (Chlorura chlorura), also western, is gray, white, and greenish, with red-brown cap.