Sunday, 5 March 00, you wrote to me:

>>Is there anyone else out there (beside myself) who is utterly
>>charmed by Spotted Towhees?

It isn't just you, Jacki. My wife prefers BC Chickadees cuz they say
her name (Phoebe--fee bee) but I like the Towhees. The way they fly
is what I like plus the colors.

> I am, although I'm in too urban a neighborhood to have them in my
> yard. They intrigue me because they make so much noise hopping
> around in the shrubs, I don't understand why they aren't wiped out
> by predators. But maybe that's why there aren't any in my
> cat-intensive neighborhood.

> Kelly Cassidy

The cat that visits my feeder regularly tries to catch the Towhees
(and anything else that isn't paying attention) but has never been
successful--that I know of. She usually leaves us the bodies of
whatever she kills on our porch (guess we're in her pride
involuntarily) but usually it's mice and other rodents. Maybe she
saves the Towhees for herself but I'm of the opinion that Towhees can
get away from a cat. I have a friend in town tho who thinks that the
huge number of cats in itself discourages birds, so you might be right.

My point was to say that Jacki isn't the only Towhee fan. My dad and
I are both in that fan club too.

Brice Matson
Cinebar, Lewis County, WA
mailto:matson at myhome.net