The Plain Titmice 
it sounded like di di di tipoong, di di di tipoong, 
the di notes very wooden and prosaic, the 
concluding member suddenly and richly musi¬ 
cal. An escaped cage-bird from Brazil, at 
least! No; a “plain” Titmouse! 
West of the Sierras the range of the Plain 
Titmouse is nearly coextensive with that of oak 
trees (with the exception of the tan-bark oak, 
which would take it into the redwood country, 
where it is almost never found). From 
the oak trees as a base, the bird 
occasionally ventures up into the 
pines in the Sierran foothills—even 
nests there; and excursions into the 
chaparral, of almost any distance, 
are matters of course. The eastern 
form of the species, B. inornatus 
griseus, scarcely different to appearance, even 
under scrutiny, inhabits the pinyons and juni¬ 
pers of the northeastern desert ranges. And 
this griseus , although it appears at suitable sub- 
mountainous stations all the way to New Mex¬ 
ico, does not occur in the valley of the Colo¬ 
rado, even where it is well timbered. Wherever 
found, a crested Titmouse is lively and offi¬ 
cious, a sort of major domo of the woods, before 
whom every invader must give account. He 
is, perhaps, at times a bit too in¬ 
quisitive. Once when the author 
was offering a morning orison from a 
wayside camp near Los Olivos, thank¬ 
ing God, if I remember correctly, 
for the rare beauty of that country—a billowy sea of green embossed 
with jade oaks—a clear voice in the foliage overhead suddenly shouted 
peto peto peto. I do not know whether this was an inopportune demand 
for passports, or whether the little fellow was really meaning to join our 
worship. Whatever he wanted, the good Lord no doubt heard his peti¬ 
tions as well as ours. 
Plain Titmice enjoy a mixed diet. Insects of many kinds reward 
the relentless scrutiny of twig and trunk; and because we find among them 
a sensible proportion of the black olive-scale, a notorious pest, we count 
Tom Tit among our most valuable horticultural allies. Vegetable food 
Taken 
in the 
San Jacinto 
Mountains 
Photo 
by the 
A uthor 
A SORT OF MAJOR DOMO 
60s 
