BIRDS AND ALL NATURE. 
ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY. 
Vol. V. MARCH, 1899. No. 3 
THE TUFTED TITMOUSE. 
(Parus bicolor.) 
LYNDS JONES. 
HOW vividly a first meeting with 
some interesting species rests 
in the memory of the bird- 
lover! It was at the evening 
twilight of October, 14, 1886, that a 
strange whistle rang through that gem 
of woods near Grinnell, Iowa, which 
has witnessed the birth of more than 
one passion for bird study. Soon 
the busy gleaner came to inquire after 
the intruder on his chosen feeding 
grounds, evidently looking for a suit- 
able resting-place for the night while 
taking his evening lunch. The voice, 
the actions, the appearance, all were 
new to me, and every movement was 
watched with breathless interest lest 
the next flight should take the bird 
away beyond recall. At last he set- 
tled in a green-briar tangle, carefully 
stowed himself away beneath a huge 
linden leaf, whistled once or twice, and 
was ready for the coming darkness. 
Never before nor since have I seen 
the tufted tit in that Iowa grove, but 
he is one of the common resident birds 
at Oberlin, Ohio. Northern Ohio is 
about the northern limit of his range, 
which extends into northern New Jer- 
sey and southern Iowa, possibly the 
southern half of Iowa. He ranges 
west to the eastern border of the 
plains, occasionally found as far north 
as Minnesota and well into Michigan, 
and is found breeding even to the Gulf 
of Mexico southward. He appears to 
be resident wherever found, but no 
doubt a few venturesome individuals 
may wander farther north than the 
usual range. 
One can hardly mistake the tufted 
tit for any other bird, for he is very 
noisy the most of the year, the excep- 
tions being the coldest part of mid- 
winter and during the breeding season, 
for his songs or whistles are peculiar 
to him. True, his chick-a-dee-dee 
closely resembles the chickadee's song 
to the uninitiated, but the clearly 
whistled peto, pe-to, pe-to, or ee-to, 
ee-to, ee-to, or pe-ter, pe-ter, pe-ter, or 
pe-ter, e-ter, e-ter will at once discover 
him. It is well worth one's while to 
write out the many different variations 
that may be heard proceeding from 
one bird. Another favorite one, judg- 
ing from the frequency of its use, is: 
Pe-dl', pe-dF, pe-dl\ or te-dl\ e-dl\ 
e-dl\ and occasionally this: Chee-pa, 
chee'-pa, chee-pa. In short, he seems 
to have a song to suit every occasion. 
Like the chickadee, he delights in 
scrambling about the trees in the most 
reckless fashion, hanging head down 
as handily as a nuthatch. His crest 
gives him a more stately air than any 
of his cousins, but his inquisitiveness 
is equal to all combined. One cannot 
enter the woods but he will be sought 
out by this active denizen and accom- 
panied hither and thither with not so 
much as a "by your leave." 
His habits seem to vary with local- 
ity, or possibly more exactly, with 
r. 
