502 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



and bark of trees for insects, cocoons or eggs which are hidden in the 

 crevices or about the bud scales. In this way they render great service 

 in the forest, orchard and garden. See Bulletin 54 United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, page 43, and Yearbook 1900, pages 295-96. Occasionally 

 their diet is varied with seeds, nuts, and a few wild fruits. Titmice, like 

 nuthatches and woodpeckers, may be attracted to the birds' lunch counter 

 by the window side or to scraps of suet fastened to tree trunks, thereby 

 accustoming them to frequent our dooryards and orchards. Mr Forbush 

 in his Massachusetts home has induced chickadees to nest in boxes erected 

 for them by the side of his study window. 



Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus) 

 Tufted Titmouse 



Plate 103 



Parus bicolor Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 12. 1766. 1:340 



DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 59, fig. loi 

 Baeolophus bicolor A. 0. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 347. No. 731 

 baeolophus, from Gr., little crest; bicolor, Lat., two-colored 



y- Description. Upper parts ashy gray; under parts dull white washed 

 the sides with rufous; a conspicuous crest. 

 Length 6-6.5 inches; extent 10-10.75; wing 3.1; tail 2.8; bill .42; 

 tarsus .8. 



Distribution. This species inhabits the warmer portions of the eastern 

 United States from Nebraska, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New 

 Jersey to Texas and the gulf coast, occasionally straggling to Wisconsin, 

 Michigan and Coniaecticut. In New York it is confined to the warmer 

 portion of the Carolinian district as a breeding species. It has been 

 reported at Williams Bridge by Lawrence; at Riverdale by Bicknell and 

 Mearns; on Staten Island by Richmond and HoUick; near Brooklyn by 

 Dutcher (Atik, 10:277); at Sheepshead bay by Braislin; and at Bellport 

 by W. A. Babson. I have found no records of its breeding in the interior 

 of the State, but it has occurred at HoUey, March 17, 1889 (Possun, Auk, 

 16: 196) ; Mayville, May 21, 1891 (A. E. Kibbe) ; Chemung county (Gregg) ; 



