The Tufted Titmouse 277 



seemed larger than their parents, and such voracious appe- 

 tites as they did have ! The parents worked faithfully all that 

 afternoon, and did nothing but feed their hungry progeny. 

 One of the trees was the very large wild cherry and in it was 

 a nest of tent caterpillars. The titmice discovered it, at- 

 tacked it, and destroyed -every caterpillar in it. It was inter- 

 esting to watch them do it. They would fly to the nest, catch 

 a caterpillar and fly with it to a limb close by, mascerate it, 

 and then fly to one of their young and give the caterpillar to 

 it. During that afternoon I think they went over every tree 

 on the lawn, and there were many of them, hunting for in- 

 sects and worms for their young ones. 



Mr. Baskett in The Story of the Birds says that "In the 

 old days when smokehouses of the rural regions were of logs 

 unchinked, these little fellows dug into the hams and mid- 

 dlings, and the crested tit is especially known as the 'meat 

 eater' among some of the southern folk." In the country, at 

 my father's log cabin home, was one of those unchinked 

 log smoke-houses, and how well do I remember when the cold 

 winter days came how the titmice would visit it. And this is 

 suggestive. Now that the old smokehouses have disappeared 

 why not put out some scraps of meat for the birds in winter, 

 when the insects and worms are scarce and hard to find? 



One who has not been reared in the country and has not 

 enjoyed the many pleasures of sugar making, is without some 

 of the things which help to make the after memories of life 

 most delightful. It is in sugar making time that everything 

 is opening into new life. Spring is getting ready to put on 

 the green that makes May and June the most delightful 

 months of the year. As to this conclusion, some may differ 

 with me, giving the preference to September and October. To 

 me the one speaks of fresh life and budding youth ; the other 

 of old age, decay and death. It is in spring, in the language 

 of the Psalmist, that we have "showers that water the earth." 

 And who has not enjoyed these showers? It is at this time 

 that the drops of water falling into the pools and rivulets 

 make air globules like halves of soap bubbles, arid our shad- 

 ows are reflected mirror-like in the water. It is at this time 

 of the year that the drying leaves rustle as we walk through 



