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184 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
head, and scrutinize me with their shining black eyes in a 
manner amusing to witness. 
Ostensibly, they were searching beneath the bark for their 
food; but really they were watching me. I once had one 
perch on my boot, and look in my face with a perfectly plain 
‘“‘ what-do-you-want-here”’ expression on its countenance. 
Always at short intervals, while perched in trees, and some- 
times while flying, this bird utters its song, which consists 
of several notes, that may be described by the syllables 
chewééh-a-dee-dee-dee, chewéék-a-dee-dee-dee, emitted in a 
clear, sweet tone, easily recognized, and not to be mistaken 
for any other song. The flight of this species is wavering, 
and not protracted; the bird seldom extending it further 
than from one tree to another. When in the air at any 
considerable height, it resembles the flight of the Wood- 
peckers, being undulating and partly gliding. 
In some localities, the Titmouse is regarded as injurious, 
from the fact that it is often seen among the branches and 
leaves of the fruit-trees and shrubs, pecking off and destroy- 
ing the buds. It does not do this to the bud for food, but 
really for the grub contained in it. If these buds be exam- 
ined after the Chick-a-dee has thrown them away, the bur- 
row of a grub or caterpillar will appear in the very heart 
of them. The bird is able to discover the presence of these 
vermin much more readily than man could; and it is thus 
able to assail them at a period of their existence when they 
are doing the most harm. But it is not the insects and 
their larve alone that he destroys. His microscopic eyes 
enable him to discover their eggs deposited on and in the 
crevices of the bark and in the buds, and in an instant he 
can destroy the whole future brood. The eggs of the moth 
of the destructive leaf-rolling caterpillar, those of the canker- 
worm, the apple-tree moth, and others of these well-known 
plagues, are greedily eaten by it; and this is in the inclem- 
ent winter, when most of our other birds have abandoned 
us for a more genial climate. 
