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Bird - Lore 



I walked slowly into the kitchen. My motives, however, were misconstrued, 

 and after her frantic efforts to escape through the screened window, she found 

 her way to the open door and flew away. That was the last I saw of her. 



The above incident has additional interest because of two other observations, 

 which I will describe briefly. In April, 1918, I was living with a neighbor, 

 whose home was about a mile from mine. One day I was watching a collie 

 dog asleep on the grass when suddenly a Tufted Titmouse flew down beside 

 the dog and began picking at his hair. The Titmouse had made but a few jerks 

 when the dog became aroused and moved slightly. This movement frightened 

 the bird and it flew away. 



Quite as unusual was an observation made April 16, 1919. A neighbor was 

 helping me saw into logs a large sugar tree which had been cut by coon hunters 

 the previous winter. The neighbor's dog had treed a fox squirrel in a nearby 

 oak. The squirrel was intensely occupied in watching the movements of the 

 dog. A minute or so later a small boy who was with us, and who had been 

 watching the squirrel, exclaimed, "Look at that little bird on the squirrel's 

 back!" I looked up and saw the boy was right. A Titmouse was perched on 

 the squirrel's back, making every effort to secure some of the animal's hair. 

 The squirrel was motionless and the bird tugged away with great ardor. I 

 watched it for perhaps half a minute, when it Hew away, accompanied by its 

 mate, which had been watching the procedure from a limb nearby. Such is the 

 courage and daring of the Tufted Titmouse. 



j- r- \ 



^SEaS*- 



MGliTlIAWK 

 Photographed by Dr. A. H. Cordier, Kansas City, Mo. 



