BIRDS AND ALL NATURE. 



ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



Vol. V. 



MARCH, 1899. 



No. 3 



THE TUFTED TITMOUSE, 



[Farus bicolor.) 



LYNDS JONES. 



HOW vividly a first meeting with 

 some interesting species rests 

 in the memory of the bird- 

 lover! It was at the evening 

 twilight of October, 14, 1886, that a 

 strange whistle rang through that gem 

 of woods near Grinnell, Iowa, which 

 has witnessed the birth of more than 

 one passion for bird study. Soon 

 the busy gleaner came to inquire after 

 the intruder on his chosen feeding 

 grounds, evidently looking for a suit- 

 able resting-place for the night while 

 taking his evening lunch. The voice, 

 the actions, the appearance, all were 

 new to me, and every movement was 

 watched with breathless interest lest 

 the next flight should take the bird 

 away beyond recall. At last he set- 

 tled in a green-briar tangle, carefully 

 stowed himself away beneath a huge 

 linden leaf, whistled once or twice, and 

 was ready for the coming darkness. 



Never before nor since have I seen 

 the tufted tit in that Iowa grove, but 

 he is one of the common resident birds 

 at Oberlin, Ohio. Northern Ohio is 

 about the northern limit of his range, 

 which extends into northern New Jer- 

 sey and southern Iowa, possibly the 

 southern half of Iowa. He ranges 

 west to the eastern border of the 

 plains, occasionally found as far north 

 as Minnesota and well into Michigan, 

 and is found breeding even to the Gulf 

 of Mexico southward. He appears to 

 be resident wherever found, but no 



doubt a few venturesome individuals 

 may wander farther north than the 

 usual range. 



One can hardly mistake the tufted 

 tit for any other bird, for he is very 

 noisy the most of the year, the excep- 

 tions being the coldest part of mid- 

 winter and during the breeding season, 

 for his songs or whistles are peculiar 

 to him. True, his chick-a-dee-dee 

 closely resembles the chickadee's song 

 to the uninitiated, but the clearly 

 whistled peto, pe-to, pe-to, or ee-to, 

 ee-to, ee-to, or pe-ter, pe-ter, pe-ter, or 

 pe-ter, e-ter, e-ter will at once discover 

 him. It is well worth one's while to 

 write out the many different variations 

 that may be heard proceeding from 

 one bird. Another favorite one, judg- 

 ing from the frequency of its use, is: 

 Pe-dl\ pe-dr, pe-dl\ or te-dl\ e-dl\ 

 e-dl\ and occasionally this: CJiee-pa, 

 chee-pa, chee-pa. In short, he seems 

 to have a song to suit every occasion. 



Like the chickadee, he delights in 

 scrambling about the trees in the most 

 reckless fashion, hanging head down 

 as handily as a nuthatch. His crest 

 gives him a more stately air than any 

 of his cousins, but his inquisitiveness 

 is equal to all combined. One cannot 

 enter the woods but he will be sought 

 out by this active denizen and accom- 

 panied hither and thither with not so 

 much as a "by your leave." 



His habits seem to vary with local- 

 ity, or possibly more exactly, with 



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