TITMICE 



207 



The Tufted Titmouse is more common in the 

 South and \\'est than his cousin, the L'hiekadee. 

 and he is (ine of the prettiest of the family. He 

 is dressed in soft gray, with a tine, showy, pointed 

 crest. His ways are something like the Chicka- 

 dee's, but he is, perhaps, even bolder and more 

 pert, and he is easily tamed. All his notes are 

 loud and clear, and he is never for a moment 

 still. 



In winter, this bird is found in little tlocks nf 

 a dozen or more. 'Fliesc are jirohablv all of oni 

 family, the parents and their two broods of thf 

 year. He is one of the birds who stores up fdnci 

 for a time when food is scarce. In sumiucr, he 

 eats only insects. 



The Tufted Titmouse, like others of his race, 

 has a great deal of curiosity. I have heard nf 

 one who came into a house through an o|ien 

 window. It was a female Titmouse in search of 

 a good jilace for a nest, .^fter she had been in 

 all the rooms, and heljied herself to whatever 

 she found that was good to eat, she seemed to 

 decide that it was a land of jilenty and she would 

 stav. 



The 

 as nice 

 her, an 



stranger 

 to bnikl 

 1 she br 



scttk 

 in. 



lught 



<i upon a 

 l"he f.unih' 

 in her m:it 



hanging 

 did not 

 ■rials ;ui 



basket 

 disturb 

 fi made 



Drawing by R. Brute Hursfall 



TUFTED TITMOUSE (J nat. size) 

 A gray-feathered bit of curiosity 

 Vol.. III. — I.S 



Photo by S. A. Luttridge 



NEST AND EGGS OF TUFTED TITMOUSE 

 A section of the stub has been removed 



her nest. .She had even lairl two or three eg.gs, 

 when the ]jeoi)le began to take too much interest 

 in her affairs, and the bird thought it best to 

 move to a safer place. 



Another of these birds, in Ohio, looking about 

 for something nice and soft to line her nest, 

 pitched upon a gentleman's hair. Unfortimately, 

 he had need of the hair himself : but the saucy 

 little Titmouse didn't mind that. She alighted 

 on his head, seized a beakful, and then bracing 

 herself on her stout little legs, she actually jerked 

 out the lock, and flew away with it. So well did 

 she like it that she came back for more. The 

 gentleman was a bird lover, and was pleased to 

 give some of his hair to such a brave little 

 creature. Oi-IVE Tiiorne AIii.ler. 



The characteristic call note of this Titmouse 

 is a two-syllabled, whistled utterance, quite melo- 

 dious, and sometimes repeated twice, three, or 

 even four, times. To some ears the syllables 

 sound like /r/o, to others more like tur-vc. tlie 

 accent always being on the first syllable. An- 

 other single note, less frequently heard, is much 

 like the aulinim note of tlie I'luebird. 



