THE PllANKS OF THE TUFTED TITMOUSE. 157 



side to side, or by creeping up a tree trunk like a 

 nuthatch, while one of his favorite accomplish- 

 ments is to hold himself back downward to the 

 under side of a twig and peck away industriously 

 at some rare delicacy that he has found ; then he 

 will perhaps let himself drop, and wheeling around, 

 dexterously alight upon a branch below him or upon 

 the leaf-strewn ground. 



Apparently a great many of these athletic per- 

 formances are indulged in for the sake of display, 

 for he frequently looks up at you with twinkling 

 eyes and a tsip of inquiry, as if he said : " There ! 

 wasn't that a clever trick ? Beat it if you can ! " 

 His feats are often surprising, and he presents a 

 handsome picture as he flings his rather roly-poly, 

 but graceful little form into various striking 

 attitudes. 



Gymnast that he is, he sometimes misses his 

 footing, or the twig upon which he leaps breaks 

 beneath his weight, and then there follows a ludi- 

 crous scramble for another foothold. When I 

 laugh aloud at his mishaps, he looks at me with 

 comical seriousness out of his dark, globular eyes, 

 and scolds Tsip^ tsip-a-tdt-tdt ! but all the while his 

 birdship is as much amused as I am, only he will 

 not ''let on." 



