Potter completed the text of "Timmy Tiptoes" but decided it was too long. She was also uncertain exactly how to put the bird calls into print. She revised the text, and wrote publisher Harold Warne: "I have compressed the words in the earlier pages, but it seems unavoidable to have a good deal of "nuts". The songs of the little birds will be easier to judge as to spelling when one sees it in type." The illustrations presented another problem. For her earlier productions, Potter was able to observe the species concerned in the wild, and kept specimens at home as pets and models. For "Timmy Tiptoes" however, she was unable to do so. Instead, she relied on specimens in the London Zoological Gardens as models, and checked photographs in reference books including one from the firm of taxidermist Rowland Ward. "The book obtained from Rowland Ward will be very useful," she wrote.