NUTHATCHES AND TITS 



457 



Fig. 583. 



Distribution. -- Resident from the Sierra Nevada to Colorado, and south 

 to New Mexico and Arizona. 



734. Parus wollweberi (Bonap.}. BRIDLED TITMOUSE. 

 Adults. Throat and crest black; crown patch gray; sides of head 



white, marked or bridled with black ; back olive 

 gray ; under parts dingy whitish. Young : simi- 

 lar, but throat gray, except for black on chin : 

 head markings less defined. Length : 4.50-5.00. 

 wing 2.00-2.80, tail 2.40-2.155. 



Distribution.-- Breeds in Upper Sonoran zone 

 from western Texas to southern Arizona and 

 southward to Orizaba, Mexico. 



Nest. As described by Scott, o| to 6 feet 

 from the ground in oaks, cavity lined with cot- 

 tonwood down, ferns, grasses, and cotton waste. 

 Eggs : 5 to 7. plain white. 



The oddly marked little -irollweberi is an 

 eminently social bird, Mr. Henshaw tells us, 

 going about, except in the nesting season, in 

 flocks of twenty-five or more. It hunts for food largely in oaks, 

 passing along more quietly than other titmice. 



Subgenus Parus. 

 Not crested. 



735. Parus atricapillus Linn. CHICKADEE. 



Adults. Top of head and throat black; back ashy or olive grayish, 

 sometimes tinged with buffy ; sides buffy ; rest of under 

 parts white. Young : upper parts dark slate ; under parts 

 salmon color, faintest on breast. Length : 4.70-5.75. wing 

 2.55-2.75, tail 2.50-2.70. 



Distribution. --Breeds in eastern North America north of 

 the Potomac and Ohio valleys and west to western Nebraska. 

 Recorded from Fort Sherman, Idaho. 



Nest. In holes in trees or stumps, made of moss. fur. hair, and some- 

 times feathers. Eggs : 4 to 8, white, spotted with reddish brown and lilac, 

 chiefly around larger end. 



Food. Injurious insects and their eggs, including tent-caterpillars, 

 cankerworms, and plant lice ; also seeds and small fruit. 



At Fort Sherman, Idaho, the chickadee appears, strangely enough, 

 to be practically identical with the far removed eastern black- 

 capped. 



735a. P. a. septentrionalis (Harris). LONG-TAILED CHICKADEE. 



Like atricapillus. but paler ; throat, top of head, and nape black ; back 

 pale ash, tinged with brownish ; wings with white patch and edgings ; tail 

 feathers edged with white ; sides of head and under parts white ; sides and 

 flanks washed with pale buffy. Length: 4.75-6.00, wing 2.55-2.80, tail 

 2.55-3.00. 



Distribution. From British Columbia and Lake Winnipeg south over 

 the Rocky Mountain plateau region, and east to the Plains. 



Fig. 584. 



