576 TOWHEE BUNTING. 



moving and feeding. Its concave wings and tail, after the 

 manner of the Titmice, are suitable to its short, flitting, jerky- 

 manner of flight. Its manner of perching is proud and 

 sprightly, with crest erect. According to universal testi- 

 mony, as also in conformity with the habits of Titmice and 

 Nuthatches in general, the nest of the Tufted Titmouse is 

 in some hole in a tree — either a natural cavity suitable for 

 the purpose, or the vacated nest of the Downy Woodpecker, 

 or sometimes the bird will dig out a cavity for itself in a 

 perfectly sound tree. In any case the cavity is well lined 

 with various soft and warm materials, closely felted together. 

 Thus the nest is at once a very comfortable and a very safe 

 one. The eggs, some 6 or 8, about .72X.57, are clear 

 white, specked and spotted with red at the large end. In 

 the case of the eggs, as in that of the nests, there is a marked 

 similarity in the whole group of Titmice and Nuthatches. 



Common in the Southern, and even numerous in the Mid- 

 dle States, this species seems to find its northern limit in 

 the Connecticut Valley in the east, about the south shore 

 of Lake Erie and in Nebraska westward, and it would seem 

 that it does not ejctend farther than Kansas in the west. In 

 this western limitation, it is unlike the Blue-gray Gnat- 

 catcher, to which it is so similar in the northern boundaries 

 of its habitat. The Tufted Titmouse is resident through- 

 out its range, thus showing how readily the same species 

 may adapt itself to different latitudes; and as it is a very 

 hardy bird, spending the coldest winters in its northern 

 limits without any apparent inconvenience, there would 

 seem to be no cause in itself why it might not thrive still 

 further north. 



TOWHEE BUNTING. 



An abundant species, associated with my early studies, 

 both in Western Pennsylvania and Northern Ohio, is the 



