markings, the middle egg being perhaps the nearest the average in every respect. The specimens from 

 which the drawings were made were kindly loaned for the purpose from the National Museum. 



I have often found trees in which this Titmouse was building, but never but once an accessible nest ; 

 this contained young. I know of a giant sycamore along the Scioto River, which has a hollow limb about 

 an hundred feet above the ground; this limb has been broken off so that the cavity can be entered from 

 the free end. Here for years the Tufted Titmouse has built and probably safely reared its young. Neai'Iy 

 all the nests of this bird which have come under my observation have been in some such place, where 

 none but the most reckless climber would dare venture. 



Dr. Wheaton of Columbus, 0., writing of this species, says: "I have seen them in this city through- 

 out the breeding season, carrying materials for building, and feeding their scarcely fledged young. Its 

 ordinary note is a monotonous dee, dee, dee, often repeated, as if from habit. Its song is a loud whistle, 

 resembling the syllables peto, peto, peto, in addition to which it has numerous and varied notes, some of 

 which are modifications, both of the ordinary notes and of the song, others appear to be an attempt to 

 imitate other birds, the notes of the Blue Jay being frequently recognized. 



"I do not think it is generally known that the Crested Titmouse has the singular habit of amusing 

 itself somewhat as the House Wren is said to do. On two occasions I have found them employed in 

 filling holes in trees with flowers of forest trees. In the first instance I watched the birds, apparently a 

 pair, for several days, and saw them carry for a considerable distance the blossoms of the ash, and deposit 

 them in a hole in an ash tree about twenty feet from the ground. At length, tired of waiting, I mounted 

 the tree and found a dark hole only, a stick was thrust into it for a distance of four or five feet, and 

 met no resistance. On the second occasion I met with a similar experience, except that disappointment 

 was not unlooked for. A lady friend complained to me that a pair of the birds vexed her much by 

 picking to pieces and carrying away the moss from her hanging baskets. A gas-post had been put in 

 position in the vicinity, but no lantern or gas-pipe had been attached. Into the cavity of this the birds 

 carried the moss and any other articles which they found portable. Conjecture fails to account for such 

 freaks." 



Many birds busy themselves during the time when their partners are sitting, and also later after 

 the bi^ood has been reared, in performing pretty much the same labor as in the constriction of their nests. 

 Mark Twain records a fact (?) about the Blue Jay, which occurs to me in this connection, which I believe 

 is not generally known by ornithologists. The reader is referred to page 38 of "A Tramp Abroad." 



298 



