234: Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



mouse is more of a Bohemian, flitting here and there, as 

 the frolicsome company with whom he associates may 

 jilease to go. However, it must not be presumed that he is 

 trifling away his time as he thus makes merry with his 

 boon companions, for a more industrious fellow never 

 roved the woods. He has learned the secret of working 

 with a willing heart, and that which is a task to. some 

 of the birds is apparently a real pleasure to him. 

 .. Let us take a seat ia some retired and shady spot, per- 

 ■ haps on the grassy bank of the little stream along which we 

 are accustomed to ramble, and there leisurely wait for the 

 appearance of any of our feathered neighbors. Though 

 at first all may be quiet and drowsy in our surroundings, 

 we may soon hear the emphatic *'chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee- 

 dee," or the chattering twitter by which we have learned 

 to recognize the active, familiar chickadee,but the unusual 

 force and emphasis now marking the production cause us 

 to look more closely for its author. There he is, clinging 

 among the lower branches of an adjacent oak to reach a 

 tempting morsel. Now he is tugging it from its lurking 

 place, and brings to the light a caterpillar eating its way 

 into the life of the tree. Having secured the prize, he 

 flits to a convenient perch OQ a bare limb, and sitting 

 proudly erect, he chatters his satisfaction and pleasure. 



We first note his plump, well-fed form ; then we mark 

 the most prominent feature about him, the stately crest, 

 which gives him the name of tufted titmouse. The pos- 

 session of a crest as an ornamental feature in the plumage 

 is so unusual that most of the birds thus decorated have 

 names indicative of the fact, ia witness of which we hare 

 the crested flycatcher and the pileated woodpecker. Per- 

 haps the cardinal received its ecclesiastical title because 

 that important and high official of the Church of Home 

 wears a red hat as emblematical of his office. The generic 

 name of Lophophanes, given to the group of birds includ- 

 ing the tufted titmouse, means *' to appear with a tuft or 

 crest," and if you are not fiimiliar with the tufted tit- 

 mouse, look for this feature first. Then we note that its 

 upper parts are ashy, with a black band on the forehead, 

 just at the base of the crest. Its under parts are dingy 

 white, but the sides of the i)ody are chestnut, or yellowish- 



