Dusky, Gray, and Slate-colored 
Tufted Titmouse 
(Parus bicolor) Titmouse family 
Called also: CRESTED TITMOUSE; CRESTED TOMTIT 
Length—6 to 6.5 inches. About the size of the English sparrow. 
Male and Female—Crest high and pointed. Leaden or ash gray 
above; darkest on wings and tail. Frontlet, bill, and shou 
ders black; space between eyes gray. Sides of head dull 
oe Under parts light gray; sides yellowish, tinged with 
red. 
Range—United States east of plains, and only rarely seen so far 
north as New England. 
Migrations—October. April. Winter resident, but also found 
throughout the year in many States. 
‘*A noisy titmouse is Jack Frost’s trumpeter” may be one 
of those few weather-wise proverbs with a grain of truth in them. 
As the chickadee comes from the woods with the frost, so it may 
be noticed his cousin, the crested titmouse, is in more noisy evi- 
dence throughout the winter. 
One might sometimes think his whistle, like a tugboat’s, 
worked by steam. But how effectually nesting cares alone can 
silence it in April ! 
Titmice always see to it you are not lonely as you walk 
through the woods. This lordly tomtit, with his jaunty crest, 
keeps up a persistent whistle at you as he flits from tree to tree, 
leading you deeper into the forest, calling out “Here-bere-bere !”’ 
and looking like a pert and jaunty little blue jay, minus his gay 
clothes. Mr. Nehrling translates one of the calls “Heedle-dee- 
dle-dee-dle-dee!’’ and another “ Peto-peto-peto-daytee-daytee !”’ 
But it is at the former, sharply whistled as the crested titmouse 
gives it, that every dog pricks up his ears. 
Comparatively little has been written about this bird, because 
it is not often found in New England, where most of the bird 
litterateurs have lived. South of New York State, however, it is 
a common resident, and much respected for the good work it 
does in destroying injurious insects, though it is more fond of 
varying its diet with nuts, berries, and seeds than that all-round 
benefactor, the chickadee. 
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