244 



THE TUFTED TITMOUSE. 



like character of the AA'ren's song. The latter bird is very apt to answer this 

 cry with his "Richelieu" note, as tho he were chahenged to utterance. If one 

 is accustomed only to these clear whistled calls, it comes as a great surprise 



when the Titmouse bursts 

 out with a CJiick-a-dec, 

 Chick-a-dec-dec, almost pre- 

 cisely like that of his black- 

 capped cousin. 



Under date of March 31st 

 I find : "The neighboring 

 woods are haunted, and have 

 been for a week or more past, 

 by a love-lorn Titmouse who 

 repeats Peto, peto, peto, peto 

 with rapid enunciation and 

 wearisome iteration. The 

 bird utters this cr_y in groups, 

 as above, on an average of 

 about thirteen times a min- 

 ute, and keeps it up all dav 

 long. During these days he 

 ranges high in the trees, but 

 stops only ten or fifteen sec- 



^t - '''^' ^Jl^'^'''^>'^^V^KKSBPiSK^^^' /■>- '■'"'^s in a place, — about long 



^r.> l,.jjlS??J# , "1fV.,"».*'\*^c^3S!gi»^Hff^»nj;':-:<''/v' J enough to repeat his burden 



four or five times. Then 

 comes a hiatus of a few sec- 

 onds, during which time he 

 is flitting to another perch. 

 At a casual glance it looks 

 as tho Mary Ann had retired 



to the depths of some unknown knot-hole to escape this silly chap, and we 



heartily wish that we might follow suit." 



Taken near 



Photo by the Author. 



"AN INCONSPICUOUS KNOTHOLE." 



PAIR OF TITMICE NESTED HERE DUklNG THE SEASON OF 



