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
suitable 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 settled 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 Jersey 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 exceptions 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 _pe-to_,
_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,
judging from the frequency of its use, is: _Pe-dl'_, _pe-dl'_,
_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 accompanied hither
and thither with not so much as a "by your leave."
His habits seem to vary with locality, or possibly more exactly, with
abundance. In this part of northern Ohio, where the species is not more
than fairly common, the birds rarely enter the villages, and they nest
almost exclusively in the woods. I am informed that farther south and
west they are often seen in villages, and nest there in boxes provided,
as well as in the woods.
The nest is placed within a box or hollow in a tree, a deserted
woodpecker's hole being preferred, where leaves, strips of bark,
feathers, hair, or almost any soft, warm materials are arranged
carefully, the coarser material outward, the finer and warmer inside.
The eggs range from five to eight in number, and are creamy white,
rather coarsely and evenly marked with shades of rufous brown. They
average about .73 × .54 of an inch. It is said that the male bird
never assists in building the nest, but sings to cheer his mate, thus
revealing the whereabouts of the nest.
While the northern Ohio woods are incomplete without a company of
these cheerful birds, I have looked in vain for them during the early
summer months in some years. In winter they range the woods for food,
penetrating to every portion of it, stowing themselves away in some
warm hollow in a tree at night, but in the nesting season they are
confined to the region of the nest, and so are not readily seen.
[Illustration: FROM COL. F. M. WOODRUFF.
CHICAGO COLORTYPE CO., CHIC. & NEW YORK.
TUFTED TITMOUSE.
10/11 Life-size.
COPYRIGHT 1899,
NATURE STUDY PUB. CO., CHICAGO.]