Horned Dark, half-conscious of the 

 simplicity and plainness of its song, 

 soars to these immense altitudes for 

 the very purpose that this selfsame 

 neglected song may reach our ears 

 with a noble sound, being transform- 

 ed and beautified by the intervening 

 oceans of air through which it falls, 

 speaking to us — a voice, as it were 

 from Heaven. 



The Ruffed Grouse or Partridge, 

 that bird which renders instrument- 

 al music instead of vocal, must, as 

 an accompanying manoeuvre, sta- 

 tion itself upon its accustomed log. 

 This done, it "drums" to its heart's 

 content. 



Who ever heard the emphatic 

 voice of the Phoebe without noticing 

 the significant jerk of its tail? Those 

 two syllables could not be uttered 

 properly without that caudal jerk. 



The Goldfinch never sings as well 

 as when it is flying, and starts a 

 new curve of its undulory flight as 

 it gives utterance to its tsee-te-day. 



And so through the bird-world, 

 almost ever}- creature has some cute 

 and pleasing gesture entirely its 

 own, which sets off to a more inter- 

 esting and pleasing effect its pecul- 

 iar avian music. 



Is there not something new and 

 interesting to be learned from the 

 birds every day, and is not the sub- 

 ject of ornithology the most inter- 

 esting of all studies? 



Neil F. Posson, Medina, N. Y. 



THE TUFTED TITMOUSE. 



(Parus bicolar.) 



The Tufted Titmouse is a com- 

 mon and well-known resident of 

 Fulton Co., Ky., being generally 

 found in company with the Caro- 

 lina Chicadee. 



The habits of these two birds are 

 so similar that an account of one 

 will very well describe the other. 



During the winter they are com- 

 mon in the to -am and feed to a 

 great extent on bread crumbs, etc., 

 which may be thrown from the door. 



They also assist the English Spar- 

 row in stealing from the chickens if 

 any small grain happens to be 

 throwm to them. They are not so 

 suspicious as the sparrows, however, 

 and may be caught easily in traps 

 biited with bread or dough, while 

 all my efforts to trap the sparrows 

 have proved unsuccessful. 



But the small amount they take 

 during the cold season is amply 

 paid for by the number of insects 

 they destroy through the spring and 

 summer in the orchards, and I have 

 never known them to eat any varie- 

 ty of fruit except mulberries. 



In summer the greater number of 

 Titmice retire to the woods until the 

 breeding season is over, reappearing 

 to some extent in July, though some 

 which probably raise two broods, re- 

 main in the woods till September or 

 October. 



(Continued on next page.) 



