The Bush-Tits 
chorus which attends the 
presence, or immanence, 
of a Sharp-shinned 
Hawk or other smaller 
depredator. Upon the 
first suspicion of danger 
even r birdling becomes 
motionless, and sets up 
a sharp chittering note 
of distress which grips 
the heart of any human 
witness, a piteous out¬ 
er}' of helpless minimity. 
And yet this distress 
note, which seems to be Taken in Oregon 
the outcome of sheer ter- 
Photo by Bohlman cr 1 Finley 
BUSH-TIT 
ror, not only serves to apprise all members of the troupe of the danger, 
but it seems to actually distract the enemy. Where everything is vocal 
nothing is localized, and ten to one the baffled marauder goes off in a huff. 
Apart from their pleadings, our sympathies are all with the little 
fellows, and they would be even if we regarded only self-interest, for it 
is probably impossible to exaggerate the usefulness of these little titmice 
in the preservation of some of our most important fruit crops. Says 
Mr. Beal: 1 “Examination of the stomachs of a number of California 
Bush-Tits (Psaltriparus minimus) revealed the presence in considerable 
numbers of the black scale (Lecanium oletz), which infests the olive. 
This insect has been a serious pest to the olive trees on the Pacific Coast, 
and any bird that will destroy it should certainly be encouraged by western 
fruit growers. The usefulness of titmice depends largely upon the small 
size of the birds. In dealing with pests of any kind, the more minute 
they are the less the probability that man can by his own unaided efforts 
succeed in exterminating them. . . . The eggs of insects, especially 
those of such small species as plant lice, are often so minute as to escape 
the closest search of man; but the more microscopic eyes of these small 
birds detect them even in crevices of buds or bark.” And that they do 
not despise these, to us, insignificant sources of nourishment is abundantly 
attested. 
Although among the most useful of citizens, it is as artists, archi¬ 
tects, and decorators that the Bush-Tits are best known to fame. Nest¬ 
building is a passion with these dun-colored atoms. In the exercise of 
this function they seem to express all the pent-up longings of an obstructed 
1 “ How Birds Affect the Orchard,” by F. E. L. Beal, Reprint from Year Book of Dept, of Agr. for 1900, p. 296. 
