200 CRESTED TITMOUSE. 



siderable variety of sounds, many of which, if the bird from which they 

 come does not happen to be known to the listener, are apt to induce dis- 

 appointment in him, when on going up he finds it to be very different from 

 what he expected. These sounds sometimes resemble a whistle, at an- 

 other time a loud murmur, and seem as if proceeding from a bird at a 

 much greater distance. 



The crest of tliis species, which is generally erect, is a great improve- 

 ment to its general appearance, the tints of the plumage being, as you 

 perceive, kind reader, none of the most brilliant. The Crested Titmouse 

 is of a rather vicious disposition, which sometimes prompts it to attack 

 smaller birds, and destroy them by thumping their heads with its bill un- 

 til it breaks the skull. 



This species sometimes forms a nest by digging a hole for the pur- 

 pose in the hardest wood, with great industry and perseverance, although 

 it is more frequently contented with the hole of the Downy Woodpecker, 

 or some other small bird of that genus. It fills the hole with every kind 

 of warm materials, after which the female deposits from six to eight eggs, 

 of a pure white, with a few red spots at the larger end. The eggs are 

 laid about the beginning of April in the Southern States, and nearly a 

 month later in the Middle Districts. As soon as the young are able to 

 leave the nest, they are seen following the parent birds, and continue 

 with them until the next spring, 



I have met with this species in all parts of the United States which I 

 have visited ; and as my rambles have been extended over a very large 

 portion of that country, I am surprised that I have not met with more 

 than two species of Titmice, although I am of opinion that several others 

 will yet be discovered. 



The species of Pine, on a twig of which you see a pair these birds, is 

 the White Pine (Pinus Strohus), a tree of great beauty, of which indivi- 

 duals have been observed of the enormous height of 180 feet, with a dia- 

 meter at the base of from six to eight feet. The trunk is branchless for 

 two-thirds of its height, and affords the most valuable wood perhaps of 

 any tree in the United States. 



Parus bicolor, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 544 Lath. Ind. Omith. vol. ii. p. 56?. 



—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 100. 

 Crested Titmouse, Parus bicolor, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. i. p. 137, PI- 8. fig. 5. 

 TouPET Titmouse, Lath. Synops. vol. iv. p. 544. 



