THE TUFTED TITMOUSE OR TOMTIT 



Titmouse Family — Paridcs 



Length: About 6 inches; a little smaller than the English 

 sparrow. 



General Appearance: A slender, active, gray and white bird, 

 with a crest. Its reddish-brown sides are not visible 

 at a distance. The titmouse need never be confused 

 with the waxwing; it is much smaller, and lacks the 

 yellow and red markings on tail and wings. 



Male and Female: Head conspicuously crested; crest gray 

 and pointed; forehead black; bill short, sharp, 

 black; back, wings, and tail gray; under parts 

 whitish, with a reddish-brown wash on the sides. 



Call-note: De-de-de-de, similar to one of the chickadee's notes, 

 but louder. 



Song: A loud, sweet, clear whistle: Pe'-to, pe'-to, pe'-to, pe'-to, 

 pe'-to, frequently repeated five times. The titmouse 

 is called locally the "Peter-bird." 



Habitat: Woodlands; open groves of hard-wood trees pre- 

 ferred. 



Range : Rare in New England. From Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, 

 Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, south 

 to central Texas, the Gulf Coast, and Florida; occa- 

 sional in Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and Con- 

 necticut. Common permanent resident near Wash- 

 ington, especially in winter. 



NO winter bird more truly exemplifies protective col- 

 oring than the lively crested Tomtit, unless it be 

 his little cousin, the Black-capped Chickadee. This so- 

 ber-hued titmouse is such a blending of the grays and 

 blacks of tree-trunk and icy brook, of the dazzling white of 



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