. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Plain Titmice it sounded like di di di tipoong, di di di tipoong, the di notes very wooden and prosaic, the concluding member suddenly and richly musi- cal. An escaped cage-bird from Brazil, at least! No; a "plain" Titmouse! West of the Sierras the range of the Plain Titmouse is nearly coextensive with that of oak trees (with the exception of the tan-bark oak, which would take it into the redwood country, where it is almost never foun
. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Plain Titmice it sounded like di di di tipoong, di di di tipoong, the di notes very wooden and prosaic, the concluding member suddenly and richly musi- cal. An escaped cage-bird from Brazil, at least! No; a "plain" Titmouse! West of the Sierras the range of the Plain Titmouse is nearly coextensive with that of oak trees (with the exception of the tan-bark oak, which would take it into the redwood country, where it is almost never found). From the oak trees as a base, the bird occasionally ventures up into the pines in the Sierran foothills—even nests there; and excursions into the chaparral, of almost any distance, are matters of course. The eastern form of the species, B. inornatus grisens, scarcely different to appearance, even under scrutiny, inhabits the pinyons and juni- pers of the northeastern desert ranges. And this griseus, although it appears at suitable sub- mountainous stations all the way to New Mex- ico, does not occur in the valley of the Colo- rado, even where it is well timbered. Wherever found, a crested Titmouse is lively and offi- cious, a sort of major domo of the woods, before whom every invader must give account. He is, perhaps, at times a bit too in- quisitive. Once when the author was offering a morning orison from a wayside camp near Los Olivos, thank- ing God, if I remember correctly, for the rare beauty of that country—a billowy sea of green embossed with jade oaks—a clear voice in the foliage overhead suddenly shouted peto peto peto. I do not know whether this was an inopportune demand for passports, or whether the little fellow was really meaning to join our worship. Whatever he wanted, the good Lord no doubt heard his peti- tions as well as ours. Plain Titmice enjoy a mixed diet. Insects of many kinds reward the relentless scrutiny of twig and trunk; and because we find
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1923
