284 The Tufted Titmouse 



these enterprising birds trying to pull hairs from her carefully arranged 

 locks ! 



While the Tom-tit usually nests in a hole in a tree or stump, one 



eccentric bird has been found building in a bunch of Spanish moss. 



When a violent storm came, her eggs were blown to the ground But, 



as the observer says, "undismayed, she began to work again in the 



same bunch of moss." Her mate did not approve 



estmg m ^ ^j^ an( j " W ould fly into a hollow near at hand 



and whistle for her." It did no good, however She 



went and looked into the hole he had picked out, but then went back 



to the moss, working rapidly and carrying "huge mouthfuls at every 



trip." It was all in vain. When her eggs were laid another storm came 



and both eggs and nest were found on the ground. The nest, besides 



dry leaves, hair, sedge, and feathers, contained snake-skins ! 



Ail this goes to prove that birds are not all alike, any more than 

 people are ; that it is never safe to say alzvays and never about birds' 

 habits ; and that, in watching birds it pays to keep one's eyes and ears 

 wide open. 



The eggs of this Titmouse vary from five to eight, and are white, 

 marked with brown. 



The dependence of the Tom-tits on holes in trees for nesting-sites is 

 illustrated by a case in Missouri, where the "hard and gnarled black- 

 jacks failed to afford the necessary hollows, and, 



smg a where, consequently, Titmice and birds of similar 



Nest-box 11- ITM i 



habits were missing. When nesting-boxes were put 



up for Bluebirds and Wrens a pair of Tom-tits took possession of one 

 of them and raised their brood in it. 



Not only do the Titmice need holes to nest in in summer, but to roost 

 in in winter, for unlike most birds the hardy little fellows do not go 

 south in the autumn, but spend the winter where they have passed the 

 summer. Like Emerson's Titmouse, they might read us an excellent 

 moral : 



Live out-of-doors 



In the great woods, on prairie floors. 

 I dine in the sun ; when he sinks in the sea, 

 I too have a hole in a hollow tree. 



* * * * 



For well the soul, if stout within, 

 Can arm impregnably the skin. 



Classification and Distribution 



The Tufted Titmouse belongs to the Order Passcrcs and to the Family 

 Paridcc. Its scientific name is Balophus bicolor. It is found from Nebraska, Iowa, 

 Ohio, and New Jersey, southward to central Texas, the Gulf coast and Florida ; 

 and occasionally as far north as the southern parts of Wisconsin, Michigan, New 

 York and Connecticut. 



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