Tufted Titmouse. 233 



it is interesting to watch their efforts to pull away the 

 substance while they are fluttering in the air. Horsehair 

 is often used in lining the nest, and the exterior of the 

 mud walls la sometimes coated with dark green moss taken 

 from the moist logs and rocks. If the nest be undisturbed, 

 the same foundation is used for several years, the pile 

 growing each year by the addition of similar material. 

 More than one brood is reared in the season, as I have 

 found nests witb unfledged young as late as July 15tb, in 

 situations where the premises had not been harried earlier. 

 "The eggs,'* says Davie, "are ordinarily four or five in 

 number; clutches of five are the most common; they are 

 pure white, sometimes sparsely spotted with obscure or 

 well-defined reddish-brown dots at the larger end. In 

 exceptional instances, the pewee deposits six or seven 

 eggs. Their average size is .81 by .52." 



Of this favorite species, Mr. J. H. Langille, in his "Our 

 Birds in Their Haunts," thus writes: "The phoebe has a 

 better reputation than either wren or robin; approaches 

 us with even more confidence than the bluebird; can vie 

 with the swallow in her destruction of noxious insects; 

 in the self-sacrifice of her domestic cares is outdone by 

 none, and is the sure herald of the bright and happy days 

 of spring. On the other hand, no pilfering or cruel habits 

 or faults of any kind detract from her many virtues. In 

 moral suggestiveness, the history of such a life is more 

 potent than a fable, and welcome as the beauty and fra- 

 grance of the flowers. Then cordially greet this summer 

 resident, more disposed to self-domestication than any 

 other bird cf our country." 



TUFTED TITMOUSE. 



It is unnecessary for us to ramble far through the 

 woods to form the acquaintance of this sprightly, merry- 

 spirited creature, for he is himself a rambler of the wood- 

 lands. While the wood thrush, the crested flycatcher, 

 the wood pewee, and the phoebe have certain portions 

 of the wood in which they spend most of their time, and 

 in fact appear to have established ways, the tufted tit- 



