TITMOUSE 



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TITUS 



are found on every hand. In Great Britain are 

 the five orders of nobility, distinguished by the 

 titles duke, marquis, earl, viscount and baron; 

 the title of baronet, which is accompanied by 

 the right to use the prefix Sir, and knighthood, 

 with the same right, are also purely honorary. 

 The common forms of address, mister (master) 

 in English, monsieur (literally "my lord") in 

 French, and herr, in German, were once hon- 

 orary titles, and did not become common to 

 all men until after the French Revolution. 



Honorary titles, so far as they are still used 

 in Europe, are survivals of feudalism. They 

 were originally applied to an individual as a 

 mark of honor, but as the fiefs of feudal days 

 became hereditary, the titles, too, descended 

 from generation to generation. Titles were 

 used by the ancient Greeks and the Romans, 

 and especially by the Romans of the Byzantine 

 Empire. "Most high," "most mighty," "most 

 sacred," "all-highest majesty" are common ti- 

 tles. The title caesar, from which czar and 

 kaiser are derived, was originally a nickname 

 meaning "long-haired" or "hairy;" from the 

 fact that it was the surname of the great Ro- 

 man empire builder it came to have a new 

 meaning, and in later days all Roman emper- 

 ors bore the dignified title of caesar. The first 

 German emperor is called Charlemagne, or 

 "Karl the Great," but karl originally meant 

 merely man or fellow, and survives to-day in 

 the English churl and the German kerl. Yet the 

 Slavs, who knew the power of Charlemagne to 

 their sorrow, have made his name the equiva- 

 lent of king (kral or korol). These are per- 

 haps extreme examples, but most titles, in fact, 

 quickly became set phrases, without any of their 

 original significance. Thus, dukes are no longer 

 leaders (Latin dux) ; counts are no longer com- 

 panions (comites) of the emperors; and con- 

 stables no longer hold the highest office in the 

 Byzantine Empire (count of the stable), which 

 later was applied to the commander-in-chief 

 of the army. W.F.Z. 



Related Subjects. For details concerning the 

 various titles of honor consult in these volumes 

 the following: 



Address, Forms of King 



Baron Marquis 



Czar Nobility 



Duke President 



Earl Prince 



Emperor Queen 



Kaiser Rajah 



Khan Hank in Army and Navy 



Khedive Sultan 



TIT 'MOUSE, TIT, or TOMTIT, a group of 

 small, hardy birds with long, soft plumage, 



found throughout almost the entire world. The 

 titmouse eats whatever food is to be had, but 

 is especially valuable for destroying millions of 

 insects' eggs and larvae. The most common 

 North American species is the black-capped 

 chickadee of the Northern United States ami 

 Canada, a gray and black bird which usually 

 keeps to the woods in summer but comes fa- 

 miliarly about buildings in search of food in 

 winter, fearlessly answering to an imitation of 

 its call "chick-a-dee-dee-dee," and even taking 

 food from the hand if coaxed. It nests in hol- 

 low trees or stumps, the eggs being five to eight 

 in number and white in color, marked spar- 

 ingly with reddish-brown. In the Southeastern 

 states is found the tufted titmouse, somewhat 

 larger than the chickadee and having a high 

 crest and a loud call, "peto, peto, peto, peto," 

 which it repeats monotonously for hours at a 

 time. 



Some Old World species of titmice are the 

 great titmouse, olive-green in color, with black 

 head and breast, common throughout Europe; 

 the Japanese titmouse, a similar bird of East- 

 ern Asia; and the blue titmice, which include 

 several handsome species of Europe and Africa. 

 The bush tits are tiny birds that build a bulky 

 nest, purse shaped and often a foot in length, 

 which they enter through a circular opening at 

 one side or near the top. 



TI'TUS (A.D. 40-81), a Roman emperor, the 

 eldest son of Vespasian. He came into promi- 

 nence in A. D. 70, during the reign of his father, 

 by capturing Jerusalem after a protracted siege. 

 On his return to Rome Titus was received with 

 imperial honors, 

 and shortly after- 

 wards became a 

 colleague of the 

 emperor. In A.D. 

 79, on the death 

 of Vespasian, he 

 became sole ruler. 

 He was a man of 

 kindly impulses, 

 and he endeared 

 himself to his 

 subjects by his 

 generosity to the 

 sufferers in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 

 79, and to those who were affected by a de- 

 structive fire and a pestilence which devastated 

 Rome the following year. The people called 

 him "the Friend and the Delight of Mankind." 

 Titus is renowned in history as a builder. He 

 completed the great Colosseum begun by his 



TITUS 



A coin of his reign, show- 

 & his head in pro 



