The Audubon Magazine. 



Vol. II, 



DECEMBER, 1888. 



No. II. 



THE TUFTED TITMOUSE. 



THE Titmice, to which family this 

 species belongs, are all small birds, 

 bearing a curious resemblance in all external 

 points of structure to the jay. Like them 

 they have a short, strong, straight, conical 

 bill, rounded nostrils at its base, covered by 

 tufts of thick, forward directed bristly 

 feathers. As in the jays, the wings have 

 ten feathers on the first joint and are 

 shorter than the tail. Their feet, too, are 

 much like those of the jays, and, so far as 

 their looks go, there is little to distinguish 

 them from the group, except their size. 

 All our Titmice are under seven inches 

 long, while all our jays are much larger 

 than this. 



The Titmice are distributed over the 

 whole of North America; those found in 

 the East and North are without crests and 

 for the most part have the top of the head 

 black or sooty brown. The Tufted Titmice 

 are rather Southern birds and all but the 

 subject of the present sketch are found in 

 the Southwest. Mr. Bennett has recently 

 described some new species from Texas. 



Many of our Titmice are hardy birds, 

 remaining with us through the winter, and 

 seeming to endure without trouble the 

 coldest weather of Canada and New Eng- 

 land. They are all active, sprightly birdg, 

 plain in color, but with pleasing vivacious 

 ways, and a neat, trim appearance. Nuttall 

 sums up their characters in the following 

 language. He says: "These are familiar, 



active, restless birds of a peevish and cour- 

 ageous disposition, and great enemies to 

 insects. They move by short, sudden 

 leaps and flights from branch to branch, 

 suspending themselves readily in all atti- 

 tudes. They live in families, in woods 

 or marshes, and approach gardens and 

 orchards in autumn and winter. They are 

 strictly omnivorous, feeding on grain, 

 fruits, insects and larvae, which they dis- 

 lodge from every retreat, and in this pur- 

 suit sometimes injure in some degree the 

 buds of trees. They perforate seed vessels, 

 hard seeds, and even nuts and almonds, to 

 obtain their contents; they likewise feed 

 on flesh, and are fond of fat. Sometimes 

 they carry their depredations so far as to 

 pursue and attack sickly birds, even of 

 their own species, commencing like jays by 

 piercing the skull and devouring the brain. 

 They are of a quarrelsome disposition, and 

 often attack larger birds, killing the weaker, 

 and are very resolute in defense of their 

 young. They breed once a year, lay many 

 eggs, in some species 18 or 20. Their 

 voice is commonly unpleasant, and their 

 chatter monotonous. Their flesh is scarcely 

 better than that of the rook and crow. 

 They are readily tamed, and may be fed 

 with cheese, nuts, and oily seeds." 



To our mind this account of the Tits is 

 hardly fair to them. They are, we think, 

 very attractive little birds, and, being seen 

 at a time when bird life is scarce in our 



