markings, the middle egg being perhaps the nearest the average in every respect. The specimens from 
which the drawings were made were kindly loaned for the purpose from the National Museum. 
I have often found trees in which this Titmouse was building, but never but once an accessible nest ; 
this contained young. I know of a giant sycamore along the Scioto River, which has a- hollow limb about 
an bundled feet above the ground; this limb has been broken off so that the cavity can be entered from 
the free end. Here for years the Tufted Titmouse has built and probably safely reared its young. Nearly 
all the nests of this bird which have come under my observation have been in some such place, where 
none but the most reckless climber would dare venture. 
Dr. Wheaton of Columbus, 0., writing of this species, says: “I have seen them in this city through- 
out the breeding season, carrying materials for building, and feeding their scarcely fledged young. Its 
ordinary note is a monotonous clee , dee, dee, often repeated, as if from habit. Its song is a loud whistle, 
resembling the syllables peto, peto, peto, in addition to which it has numerous and varied notes, some of 
which are modifications, both of the ordinary notes and of the song, others appear to be an attempt to 
imitate other birds, the notes of the Blue Jav being frequently recognized. 
“ I d° n °f think it is generally known that the Crested Titmouse has the singular habit of amusing 
itself somewhat as the House Wren is said to do. On two occasions I have found them employed in 
filling holes in trees with flowers of forest trees. In the first instance I watched the birds, apparently a 
pair, for several days, and saw them carry for a considerable distance the blossoms of the ash, and deposit 
them in a hole in an ash tree about twenty feet from the ground. At length, tired of waiting, I mounted 
the tree and found a dark hole only, a stick was thrust into it for a distance of four or five feet, and 
met no resistance. On the second occasion I met with a similar experience, except that disappointment 
was not unlooked for. A lady friend complained to me that a pair of the birds vexed her much by 
picking to pieces and carrying away the moss from her hanging baskets. A gas-post had been put in 
position in the vicinity, but no lantern or gas-pipe had been attached. Into the cavity of this the birds 
carried the moss and any other articles which they found portable. Conjecture fails to account for such 
freaks,” 
Many birds busy themselves during the time when their partners are sitting, and also later after 
the brood has been reared, in performing pretty much the same labor as in the construction of their nests. 
Mark Twain records a fact (?) about the Blue Jay, which occurs to me in this connection, which I believe 
is not generally known by ornithologists. The reader is referred to page 38 of “A Tramp Abroad.” 
