OF VIRGINIA 343 
fifteen to sixty feet, sometimes even higher. J have tried 
to induce them into homemade nesting sites of boxes and 
cans, placed in suitable places, as IT have seen practiced 
in California with the Plain Titmouse, but without 
success. From my observations I find two broods unusual. 
They are resident birds throughout the year. Eggs, 
creamish-white, specked and spotted with reddish-brown 
and fainter markings of lavender. Size, .74x.54. Their 
food consists of numerous insects gathered from the trunks 
and limbs of the larger trees; the acrobatic feats per- 
formed while doing so are an amusing and interesting 
sight. During this activity, though, they take time to 
utter their cheery whistle, and will, if imitated, come 
down from lofty heights to within a few feet of the 
intruder, so inquisitive is their nature. Like the chicka- 
dees and nuthatches, the young when able to leave the 
nest travel in company with the parents in search of food, 
often two or more broods joining company. Never have 
I yet found nests of these birds in a deserted woodpecker 
hole; natural cavities of the hardwood trees were always 
selected. A pair nested in 1912 within sixty feet of my 
house, vet so distantly did they range from their nest, 
and so cautious when approaching it before eggs were 
hatched, that it was not until the birds made regular trips 
with food for the young, that I discovered it. The female 
is a very close sitter, allowing herself to be removed from 
the eges or young, as she will not at that period flush. 
