THE OOLOQI8T. 







43 



Nest No. 1, when I was attracted by 

 a low, peculiar "dee, dee, dee." quite 

 different from any note I had previous- 

 ly heard. In a moment I had traced 

 the sound to a Tit at the entrance of 

 its nest. A large catalpa tree leaned 

 over the creek at this point at an an- 

 gle of 45 degrees, and up about fifteen 

 feet, directly over the water and on 

 the upper side of the trunk was a 

 knot hole. The bird was at the en- 

 trance to this and in the act of plac- 

 ing some morsel in the bill of his 

 mate within. In a moment I was on 

 my way up the trunk with my eyes 

 slued to the hole. Each moment I ex- 

 pected the female to leave, but in thjfe' 

 J underestimated her courage. Look- 

 ing within I was greeted with her pe- 

 culiar hiss, but as she sat close, and 

 I was unable to insert my hand in 

 the small cavity, the contents were a 

 mystery. Ten minutes later I had 

 succeeded in borrowing a hatchet 

 from the shanty of a gentleman of 

 color and was again at the tree. The 

 cavity was soon enlarged and I in- 

 serted my hand All this time the fe- 

 male remained on the nest amid the 

 storm of falling chips. On seeing my 

 hand, however, she concluded that it 

 was time to act and she went at me 

 ;bill and claws. I was hoping for a 

 set of eggs, but imagine my disap- 

 pointment when I finally discovered 

 the contents to be one newly hatched 

 young bird, six hatching eggs and an 

 unfertile one. This I took and left the 

 anxious birds in possession of their 

 home. I paid several visits to the 

 place after this and learned that the 

 young were fed to a large extent on 

 larvae. They left the nest just eleven 

 days after the eggs were hatched. 



Nest No. 3. As I had spent some 

 time in vain search for them the pre- 

 ceding year, I began to wonder wheth- 

 er I should ever succeed in discover- 

 ing a nest with eggs. However, on 



April 17th, I spent the day at Tinicum, 

 Delaware Co., Pa., and while there I 

 observed a Tit fly with a beak full of 

 fur into a hole some 30 feet up an 

 Oak tree. My only other find on this 

 day was a fine set of five eggs of the 

 Fish Crow, but I was well content and 

 eagerly awaited developments. On 

 May 10th I was on hand with a small 

 pocket axe and speedily ascended the 

 tree. On reaching the hole no bird 

 was observed and some time was' 

 spent in meditating whether it was 

 advisable to chop out the nest without 

 further evidence. I decided to run the 

 risk, how-ever, and in a few minutes I 

 was enabled to insert my hand. An 

 electric thrill ran through my body 

 for the reward was there — eggs, six 

 beauties and perfectly fresh. At last 

 my desires were rewared, my hopes 

 realized, and I possessed a set of the 

 Crested Titmouse. 



The nest was built, as I have said, 

 30 feet up in a Swamp Oak and on 

 the upper side of a limb extending 

 diagonally over a pool of water. The 

 entrance to the nest was a knot hole 

 scarely large enough for the ^bird to 

 squeeze through. The nest proper 

 was built nine inches "back and was 

 constructed of skeleton leaves, plant 

 fi'bres, etc., and lined entirely with fur 

 and hair, chiefly rabbit, but quite an 

 amount of cows hair was also included 

 in the composition. The cavity was 

 well defined. Neither of the birds 

 were about this nest, from which I in- 

 fer that one more egg, at least, would 

 have been laid. 



Perchance I have wearied some 

 reader, but owing to the fact that lit- 

 tle has been published as regarding 

 this obviously common species', I have 

 deemed it advisable to give full data. 



The eggs of this species are very 

 handsome, frequently being heavily 

 spotted and rarely blotched with bril- 

 liant reddish brown. Outside of their 



