276 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



and May and breed until midsummer. They nest in wood- 

 pecker and knot holes and other cavities, generally five to 

 thirty feet from the ground. 



"Then to some tall tree's bole, hollow, 

 If his flight your eyes but follow, 

 There, the curious crowd evading, 

 You may find his partner brooding 

 Eggs with thin shells, tinted, creamy, 

 Lilac, rufous, hinting dreamy 

 Forethought of the life abiding, 

 Songless yet, within them abiding." 



"And, forsaking each great singer, 



If you'll for a moment linger 



With your thoughts on him, you'll hear him 



Warbling to the wifey near him: 



'Peter, Peter! who is neater, 



Prettier, wiser or discreeter, 



Than you are dear heart? I greet ye: 



Peter, Peter, te, te, te, te!'" 



Some of the names of the tufted titmouse are crested tit- 

 mouse, crested tomtit, Peter-peter, and sugar bird. The adult 

 male and female are alike in size, contour, color and appear- 

 ance. Both have conspicuous crests and a bill which is black ; 

 tongue very short, truncate and ending with three or four 

 sharp points ; eye dark hazel ; lores white ; gray above, whit- 

 ish below with sides of reddish brown ; wing feathers relieved 

 with dusky on their inner vanes; tail a little forked, consid- 

 erably concave below, and of the same color as the back. 



Their food consists entirely of insects, their eggs and 

 larvae, and for this reason they are of our most useful birds. 

 At Somerleaze they have shown themselves to be very busy 

 workers in our orchard and I have been much interested in 

 watching them going over our elms for insects and worms on 

 the leaves. In doing this they catch a limb with their feet 

 and swing with their heads downward, so as to be able to in- 

 spect the under side of the leaves. One Sunday afternoon in 

 1900 a pair of them brought their young ones to the trees on 

 our front lawn and this gave me an excellent opportunity to 

 observe them from the veranda with a glass. The young ones 



