Evening star., 1949-10-29
This and That
By Charles E. TraceweH .
BUNKER HILL ROAD: NE.


Dear Sir:
referring to the letter about pair OF
bald headed cardinals, had one last year,
day in and day out. I didn't notice that
his eyes protruded, but it was months before
he acquired new headgear. At the time we
though he had escaped from a cat. Now I
wonder.
II have now not a wingless chicken,
but tailless titmouse, which surely must
have escaped from a cat. but he flies very
we'll in spite of his loss.
Very truly yours D. M. c."
A titmouse with or without tail is a
mighty fine specimen of living being.
He is not too muscular, but he manages
to get along very WELL
With his bold crest, and his rapid actions,
his chumminess with the chickadee and the
nuthatch, and his general all-around good
birdness, as it might be called, he is welcome
in any home or garden.
Little mouse, he is, but also he is as big
as any in the JOY he brings.
Tufted titmouse, he is called. in the books.
In some sections Of the country he is
called variously the tufted tit, the tufted
chickadee, the crested titmouse, the peto
bird, and the crested tomtit.
The name peto bird comes from his call;
the reference to chickadee (Which, of course,
he is not) comes from the common associa-
ton.
Tomtit comes from the European birds of
the same group.
Whatever he is called. he is fine fellow.
about inches long. larger than the chick
adee, with upper parts slate gray, the under
parts white, with bit of reddish, usually
called cinnamon-rufous.
The iris Of the eye is brown, the wings
long and rounded. and the tail shorter than
the wings. and slightly rounded.
Distinctive is the little crest.
The titmouse likes to nest in deserted
woodpecker holes or in hollow stumps, and
sometimes will take to man-made house.
The nest is small, but holds from to 8
eggs, which are white, spotted with brown.
The nest is made of leaves, strips of bark.
moss and sometimes of hair, If the bird can
find such material
The titmouse has been known to descend
suddenly on fur coat, to yank out few
hairs, or even upon head OF hair!
The pointed crest gives him a very pert
air.
Usually just one or two come to yard.
but now and then dozen may be seen to-
gether.
It is believed that these small birds are
made up of the father and mother and the
members of the two broods of the year.
Mostly local yards will not see such bands,
so no one will be disappointed. About the
only bird groups here in winter made up of
whole families are the jays, and sometimes
the cardinals. The latter group is difficult
to determine, but no observer can fail to
realize that the small bands Of blue jays
belong to the same family.
X \
Titmice have ne-shaped bills and some
thing it is impossible to see, an arrangement
of horny bristles on the tip Of the tongue.
The feathers are very soft, much more
so than those Of most other birds, such as
the woodthrush for instance.
The tipped tongue is used to stick well
into crevices Of bark, after insects that lurk
there.
In this way the tiny titmouse does real
service to mankind, because 1t roots out the
lurking evils that might cause injury to
many trees.
When it is realized how great toll insects
take OF our trees, and especially how many
other enemies trees have in cities, we may
feel indebted to this little bird for all it does.
In summer he eats only insects, and feeds
only insects to his young.
In the fall and winter he will take what
ever food he can find, and hides some of it
for future use, but as with SO many food
hiding birds, he never finds all the stores,
because other birds or squirrels. get to 1t
first This is all right with the titmouse;
he knows that he can find what some other
bird has hidden.