n 



THE OOLOGIST. 



NestiHg of the- Tufted Tit. 

 ( Lo2Jhoph(mi'S bieolor: ) 



r.Y ,T. WA.KREN JACOBS, WAYNESBUHG, PA. 



This active little fellow is known in this 

 locality as the Tom Tit. lu winter they 

 seem to be quite tame, and will allow a close 

 approach. 



' During the winter of '82 one entered :ouj: 

 kitchen through a broken pane of glass in 

 the window. They seem to. go i^i; pairs, ■. the 

 year around, and in -wintev and early 'spring 

 they are not uncommon in most portions 

 of our town. They; may be , seen, swinging 

 from twig to twig in the maple and other 

 ornamental trees that border on the pave- 

 ment, or hopping about the ground hunt- 

 ing seeds and crun)l)s. Always paying no 

 attention to the-erowd.: ; oi. ,£iir;H,ged , and 

 scolding English' ■Sparrosv's, ,-!wsh(& rseteKlilte; 

 think the trees and gardens iiil their, own. r . 



As the winter wears, a way, Owl and Hawk 

 nesting conies; andasjtramp tlii-ough the 

 woods paying my reSpeets to these birds of 

 ]riey, the Tufted Tit is ever w'ith nie, mak- 

 ing his presence knowai; by, his cheering 

 notes, or- by scratching lUid .digging iu, the. 

 leaves, aSter^ithSiii ai}iiUin&fcii<3i,:JthQ,iTcivV>lie,e.. 

 Biinting;3i( qola oi h^MWii-iaor) Issl I irj.''! 



By; and by :Tom and. his wife go,to),,.hojLis.e-^ 

 keeping- Mrst they investigate all .th;*? .old 

 "snags,"; '-'stubs,'' knotholes ai^d '■ the 

 deserted: homes of the AVoiodpecket. . After 

 tinding .sauitable •nesting.) place, they 

 gather leaves, grass, fur, \vo6l, naoss etc.. 

 and pile it in a mass on tho bottom of the 

 cavity. Upon this they.^pQii|Sti:ijc.t^,i,x, neat. 

 cup-shaped nest of ''Mavfisj -jog^iiSft^ .mA. 

 \xi^x. ' ' ■■"■'■' ■"'■■: ■ ' '■'• '■' 



On May 1.3, '88, T was out collecfiug, and 

 after passing through two large pieces of 

 woodland, was returning home bv the near- 

 est route, which lay through a very small 

 tract of timber. When about half way 

 through, I heafd the scolding notes of. the 

 Titmouse a few rods iu advance. Presently 

 a pair of these birds a])pit)fitihSd tvs, coririug 

 from, the vicinity of a^.sm{jll .oali-. "siiag '' 

 about^ 15; .feet . high, On examjuatiaa,. ,1 

 found it 'WOuld be hard^to "Bhin^" fis there 

 ■was i)ut'orie btanoh,' and it a" 'sinall half 



dead . .one near the .top After. _ some.. 



difaculty I m.anaged to get hold of the Umb . 

 and draw myself up. Imagine my delight 

 when I peeped down into the cavity anrl 

 counted six beautiful eggs. 



A friend who was with me passed me up 

 the hatchet with which I cut off a gcjpd 

 portion of the top. . Then I, proceed^^l . to , 

 to; take out the eggs, which .to Jny siarj):]jis^a 

 liui£i,b§re.d. .5.roe» instead of. six.,, ,T^ \Y,i}U^of, 

 the nest had at first hiddeaone, ,frqm;..yje,Wf-. 

 The nest was made of leaves, fine .strips of , 

 bark and a small amount of, fur and moss. , 

 The eggs w,ere perfectly fre.sh and ar.e w^iite 

 with a slight roseate tinge, covered,, mo.stly,. 

 at thp larger end, with bo.ld blptcheis ,a^)id 

 spots of reddish brown and lilac. , .JV^eaSjijiire^rj, 

 meat, .C? by .-14, .R8 by .53, •^■■^%,\^^^■f^^ 

 .m by ..54:, .70 by.^.^./j4. .70 by ".5l"'and 



.fi9by.54. -33JroDo-i ^'' 



On the afternoon of the l4th I was out 

 searching for a nest of the Vv'hite-breasted 

 Nuthatch, wheii I saw a pair of Titmice 

 feeding near a small oak' stub' \<'liich wais', 

 hollow at the top. As tdii.^; was the same' 

 cavity in which I found, iu '87, a nest cqu-" 

 taiuing three eggs of the Titmouse aud one 



of the Gowbird, I thouL<lit it would be v.^i ' 

 , , . ■', ■ 'o Jxitfooox; 



jny. uiterest to exaniuK-' it figani. , , 



' Upon climbing u]) and looking down lu'tio the 

 fcavity I could see a set of six beautiful eggsT 

 Thinking it possible the .set imoomplet e. I 

 left it a few days. When I returned on the 

 16th, I found the old Vjird sitting ou the 

 ogi^'s. No amount of threatening and face- 

 making would induce her to leave: so I jiut 

 my hand underneath her and lifted her out. 

 |I^he. nest contivineid' the same number ' that 

 it did (ju the, 14.th. They were fresh and in 

 color, size and shape closely reseinbled the 

 set of six collected on the V-) \\. 



The nest was made of leaves, grass, tine 

 strips of bark and a small amount (.'f hair 

 and moss, eight feet from the ground. 



The next nest was found on May 18, com- 

 posed of leaves and hair, placed in cavity in., 

 dead, beech, ^welve feet frum the ground... 

 The cavity was in the side of the tree jmd,. 

 Was excavated bv the birds themselves. ,, , , 



The ejgs are six, pure white, with .fine,, 

 spots of reddi-ih l)rown and lilac scattered. 



