Tufted Titmouse. 235 



brown. If we are near enough, we may see that the bill 

 and feet are lead color. This titmouse is a trifle larger 

 than the black-capped titmouse, or chickadee, and is some- 

 what smaller than the downy woodpecker, with which it 

 associates in its roving through the woods. 



As residents of the woods, the tufted titmice are not 

 disposed to resort to any extent to the "upper story," but 

 prefer the level of the lower branches and the tops of the 

 weeds and bushes. They are rattier noisy, and remarkably 

 fond of companionship, usually falling in with the chick- 

 adees, nuthatches, creepers, and juncos, in winter. They 

 are seldom seen without associates of some kind, except 

 in the nesting season. They move about through the 

 woods in little troops, each individual apparently inter- 

 ested solely in its own affairs, and paying no particular 

 attention to the movements of the others. We may first 

 be informed of the vicinity of the little chickadee by its 

 gentler chatter; presently we may hear the heavier 

 "quank" of the white-breasted nuthatch, followed by the 

 more emphatic scolding of the tufted titmouse; then the 

 sharp "plick" ot the downy woodpecker, who stops to 

 drum occasionally upon suitable branches. We begin ta 

 imagine that we are in the midst of numbers of birds, when 

 one by one they disappear, separately as individuals, but 

 entirely as a troop, and the woods about us again become 

 silent. 



These sprightly creatures are not confined to the woods 

 in their strolling life. They remain with us throughout 

 the year, and daring the colder months, when they find 

 it more difficult to procure their insect fare from the icy 

 and snow-laden branches, they enter the gardens and 

 door-yards in the country, seeking to add to their scanty 

 forest larder some of the tid-bits from our tables. At 

 such times they may be seen with the snowbirds and 

 chickadees, perching at times with stately air upon the 

 dried stalks and weeds, and at other times clinging head 

 downward in their attempts to secure attractive objects 

 from the lower sides of the limbs. 



The author of " Our Own Birds" says of this and 

 related species : "The titmouse, like its cousin, the wren, 

 is an active, cunning little creature, ever on the go, hop,. 



