Titmouse

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

in ornithology, a popular name for any individual of the sub-family Parinæ. They are remarkable for the boldly defined color of their plumage and their quick, irregular movements, running rapidly along branches in quest of insects, and often clinging thereto with their back downward. They feed not only on insects, but on grain and seeds, and not infrequently kill young and sickly birds with strokes of their stout, strong bill. They are very pugnacious, and the hens show great courage in defense of their nests. The young are fed chiefly on caterpillars, and a pair of blue tits have been observed to carry a caterpillar to their nest, on an average, every two minutes, during the greater part of the day, so that these birds must be extremely serviceable in preventing the increase of noxious insects. The chickadee, so named from its note, is the blackcap titmouse (Parus atricapillus), found chiefly in the North American continent. Seven species are well known in Europe; but one, the crested titmouse (Parus cristatus), s), is only an accidental visitor. The great titmouse (P. major) is about six inches long; head and throat black, cheeks white, back, breast, and sides yellowish, wings and tail grayish. The blue titmouse (P. cæruleus), which is so called from the bluish tinge in its plumage, and the coal titmouse (P. ater), named from its black head and neck, are the commonest British species; the others are the long tailed titmouse (Acredula caudata, Parus caudatus), the marsh titmouse (P. palustris), and the bearded titmouse (Panurus biarmicus), or reedling.