Great way to start the year, Jeff.

From a fellow mammal,

Dennis Paulson
Seattle

On Jan 4, 2015, at 12:00 PM, tweeters-request at mailman1.u.washington.edu wrote:

> Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2015 10:19:32 -0800
> From: Jeff Gibson <gibsondesign at msn.com>
> Subject: [Tweeters] Tits Up
> To: "info at mccombgardens.com" <info at mccombgardens.com>
> Cc: tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>
> Recently I posted about my new term for a group of Towhee's; "a Rustle" of Towhee's. In response, Jane, of Sequim, marched out the notion of a "Troop " of Towhee's. I like that, Jane.However, "troop" is a word already taken in my personal lexicon of bird groupings.
> "Troop" is the term I apply to the Common Bushtit. Somehow, in my mental ecology, when I see a bunch of Bushtits I am reminded of a troop of monkey's moving through the trees. I actually have never seen a troop of, let alone a single, wild monkey, except on theTee Vee. But having watched nature shows on the ol' boob tube, seeing a troop of bushtits moving through the bushes, does seem like a mini-version of monkey business. To date, seeing a troop of bushtits go through the yard never fails to make me smile - even on a bad day. They're just so fun to see in action.
> Of course, it being a dark winter day, I came up with some other name notions. Bushtits are fairly rarely seen alone, so I came up with the idea of "Udder's of Bushtits" as an alternative group description.
> You see, many moons ago I lived on various farms just loaded with udders. Cows have four tits per udder, goats two. So you can see how describing "Udders of Bushtit's " might be an applicable term. I never milked a cow, but did milk goats for a year. I learned at least two things that year; 1. goats really are ornery ; 2. milking a goat uses hand muscles you never knew you had. If you shake hands with a goat milker at a party, you should hope they use some restraint.
> Hopefully, all this tit analogy isn't bugging you too much. I mean, if your'e a Tweeter, your'e a mammal, and mammals come with tit's installed as you already know. If you have a problem with tits, counseling is no doubt available.
> Moving right along, back to the farm, how about "A Tits Up" to describe Bushtits? I could be wrong, but I believe "tits up" was an old agricultural term. Like, it was a sad day on the farm, when ol' Bessie, your prize milker, was found "tits up on the back 40", i.e. deceased. Here at my folks place in Port Townsend I wanna try out the call - "it's a Tits Up in the backyard!" next time the bushtits move through . My parents are losing their minds, but still have a sense of humor.
> I guess I've milked this post for all it's worth, if not more. Of course there is that story about 'Poor Will, the Goatsucker', but that didn't turn out too well, and I'd like to end on a lighter note.
> Jeff Gibsonmammal, in Port Townsend Wa