264 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
tive expression, as though just ready for a spring; 
and the governess continued : “ This is the black- 
capped titmouse, so called from the color on the 
upper part of his head and neck ; the rest of the 
body is a kind of brownish slate-color, except the 
breast and body, which are yellowish-white, and 
the wings are edged with white. ‘ The males have a 
variety of very sprightly notes, which cannot indeed 
be called a song, but rather a lively, frequently- 
repeated, and often- varied twitter. They are most 
usually seen during the fall and winter, when they 
leave the depths of the woods and approach nearer 
to the scenes of cultivation. At such seasons they 
abound among evergreens, feeding on the seeds of 
the pine tree; they are also fond of sunflower-seeds, 
and associate in parties of six, eight, or more, at- 
tended by the two species of nuthatch, the crested 
titmouse, brown creeper, and small spotted wood- 
pecker ; the whole forming a very nimble and rest- 
less company whose food, manners, and disposition 
are pretty much alike.’ 
“ This company, it seems, will go through the 
woods from tree to tree, tumbling, chattering, and 
hanging from the extremities of the branches, as 
though out for ‘ a regular good time,’ but keeping a 
sharp lookout around the roots of the leaves, buds, 
and crevices of the bark for insects and their larvse. 
