90 
NESTS AND EGGS OE 
to be an indisposition to mingle, yet evidence is not wanting to show that 
society of some kind is not wholly disagreeable. Either sex manifests, or 
seems to manifest, some regard for the Black-capped Titmouse. Wherever 
you discover the one, you are pretty sure to find the other. This occur- 
rence does not appear to be accidental, but rather to be dictated by a 
desire for company, or by actual necessity. 
Although evincing a decided partiality for Nature in her wildness, on 
warm, sunshiny days in mid-winter our little friend may frequently be 
seen climbing about our trees after the fashion of a Creeper, or standing 
beside our doors in anxious expectation of receiving his share of crumbs 
from the table. He is now the very impersonation of fearlessness, and 
conducts himself with all the familiarity of a long-tried friend. 
But as sjjring returns, a peculiar cry greets the ear, louder and more 
frequent than usual. Tsi-tsi-tsl comes from wood and glen, from stream 
and hollow. Once heard, these syllables can never be forgotten, for they 
are uttered in a running, pleasing rythm, and with a gently-rising into- 
nation, and seem indicative of joy and satisfaction. But as the season for 
departure arrives, these sounds give place to others of a more agreeable 
character. Even in the heart of winter this music may be heard. Per- 
haps some precious reminiscence of the past has arisen in the memory to 
evoke this fiood of song. 
Full of expectancy and unrest, about the middle of May — often 
earlier, seldom later — the little Golden-crown wings its flight to other 
scenes. Of the exact time, we know nothing. It does not stop to bid us 
an affectionate adieu, but is gone before we are hardly aware of the blank 
which it has left. Its return is as unheralded and mysterious. To-day 
we admire its graceful actions, sprightly ditty and beautiful plumage. 
To-morrow we search the old haunts, feeling almost confident that it must 
be lurking somewhere about, but to be doomed to disappointment. Occa- 
sionally our patience is rewarded by finding a couple of individuals, who 
have either lost their reckoning, or have made up their minds to spend 
